


The carrot cake

by Hbsj



Series: HermionexDraco fics [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cake, Draco Malfoy in the Muggle World, Drama, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, HP: EWE, Love, Muggle London, Not Epilogue Compliant, Past Astoria Greengrass/Draco Malfoy, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-03-31 19:22:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 37,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13981674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hbsj/pseuds/Hbsj
Summary: Hermione Granger is spending a rainy afternoon in a crowded coffee shop, when Draco Malfoy interrupts her silent musings and his entire attitude towards her takes her completely by surprise.Dramione fluff that involves a delicious piece of carrot cake and a date in the muggle world planned by Draco, plus a Winters ball planned by Narcissa with Blaise and Pansy helping her!Post-Hogwarts, romance, humor, some Astoria-drama and lots of fluff!





	1. Cake

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sweet Dramione fluff, I hope you enjoy it :-)  
> No beta, all mistakes are mine.  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, though I really do wish!

Hermione Granger hurried out of the rain into the small coffee shop she usually frequented in Diagon Alley, she had been looking forward to her afternoon coffee time today. Shaking her head a bit and fluffing rain out of her hair and coat, she went to the counter and ordered a large black coffee with milk and two sugars along with a large piece of carrot cake. The carrot cake in this particular shop was spectacular, and it was the main reason she always chose this place. Collecting her order, she sat down in the back corner of the shop and pulled out a book, enjoying herself immensely. This was such a good cure for the rainy dark weather outside. She completely vanished into her own little world, and didn't really want to emerge from it. Well, at least not until it stopped raining.

The book she was reading was a romantic classic of British literature, and she knew it by heart, but she always loved it every time she re-read it. But romance in real life it seemed, was not to be for her. Ron had told her quite plainly that she didn't have a romantic bone in her body. Well, he didn't understand her kind of romance, which was much subtler than his. Where he was brash, she was understated, and their relationship had imploded about a year after the war. He was happy with Lavender now, and she did wish them all the best, but she really did wish that she would meet someone who could understand her. But that was obviously too much to ask, and she remained single five years later. She'd been on loads of dates, blind dates, casual meets through friends, and the men she'd seen had been more than willing to expand their relationship, but it had all ended early. She wiped her eyes covertly, not wanting to alert anyone to the fact that she was crying softly, and pulled herself together. She just really wanted to not be lonely anymore.

Draco Malfoy ducked into the first coffee shop he encountered. He didn't care how crowded it was, or whether or not he knew anybody inside. All he wanted was to get out of the horrid weather and get a steaming cup of coffee. After placing his order with the flirtatious woman behind the counter and waiting for his coffee, he glanced around the small shop. Every single table was full, maybe he should get the coffee to go, but he really wanted to dry off. Just then, in the furthest back of the shop, he saw curly brown hair hiding behind a book. He knew only one person who would do that. And across from her, was a single unoccupied chair. This afternoon just got a whole lot more interesting.

He grabbed his coffee from the counter and went over to her. She didn't move at all, was she even aware that he was standing right in front of her? Probably not, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. He pulled the chair out loudly and sat down across from her, placing his coffee on the table. Her head jerked up, and her eyes widened a fraction when she recognized him.

"Hello Granger. What a pleasant surprise to see you here." His tone was friendly and he smiled at her. He really was quite glad to see her, they'd met many times over the years after the war, and they were cordial to each other. And she did look very cute in her oversized sweater and dark jeans. Her hair had been much improved since they were at school together, and she had a lovely flush on her face as she looked up at him.

"Hi Malfoy. What brings you here?" She said somewhat timidly. Wow, he looked incredible. His hair was disordered and still a bit wet from the rain, and that smile send a jolt through her. He looked so handsome when he smiled. He should have done that a lot more at school.

"Well, I was supposed to get some shopping done today, but this weather doesn't really seem to agree with me. But I do hope I'm not interrupting your very busy afternoon." He chuckled at his own joke.

She smiled at his lame joke. "No, you're not. Do you want some cake? It's very good, but I can't finish it all myself."

"Uhh, don't mind if I do." He smacked his lips, took her used fork, and started to gulp down the cake.

"Uhm Malfoy. You do realize that you're eating with my used fork, right?" She looked confused at him.

"Yes, do you mind it? I thought it was easier then get a new one."

"No no, I'm just surprised that _you_ don't mind it. There was a time when a fork that had been used by me would disgust you."

"I can assure you, it doesn't disgust me at all Granger." He gave her a short heated look, and dived back to finish off the piece of cake.

"Well, maybe it doesn't disgust you, but what about your girlfriend, wouldn't she mind?" She'd read that he was dating Astoria Greengrass, and that it was serious between them. But his girlfriend was a pureblood just as the wizard in front of her, and she was certain that the woman wouldn't be too happy with her boyfriend having used her used fork.

"She doesn't have a right to mind. We broke up six months ago."

"But…"

"We've kept it quiet. She wants us to drift apart slowly in the public eye, and then, after a certain amount of time, announce our mutually affable breakup. This cake is really good by the way, do you want the last piece?" He skewered the last piece of the cake on the fork, and handed it to her.

She said nothing, and just looked at him closely. His face was open, expectant and nervous? So she took the fork, and ate the very last piece of the cake. She closed her eyes and hummed quietly in satisfaction, that cake was really good. When she opened her eyes however, Malfoy was looking at her hungrily. They just sat there, staring at each other. He was the one to break the silence.

"So, Granger, I have to get going, but do you want to go for dinner sometime soon?"

She smiled at him, and he smiled right back. "Yes, I'd love that."

"Excellent, I'll owl you later today. Good to see you." He stood and bent down to kiss her cheek. He hovered there, and she could feel his warmth. Then he whispered in her ear. "I can't wait to see you again." She could feel his breath on her ear, and she shivered.

With that, he smirked at her and left the coffee shop. And for the very first time in years, she was extremely excited for her next date.

 


	2. Planning

Draco walked out of the small coffee shop and stopped outside the door. Before he went out into the sheeting rain he pulled his coat tight around him, and cast an impervious charm over it, at least he wouldn't be completely soaked by the time he came home. He started walking, and just caught a look at the stunned Hermione sitting at the back of the small shop, with a small smile playing around her lips. He grinned to himself. This was definitely not the way he had expected his day to turn out.

But since it had, he was not going to complain. He'd be taking her to dinner, and it ought to be good. He needed a good plan. He did know her quite well now, he needed to take her somewhere she would love, and it didn't have to be expensive, though he didn't care if it was. Hmm, he had been thinking about going to that newly opened muggle movie theatre. It was in the shape of a large half dome, and you almost lay down in your seats to watch the movies they played, and they only played movies made especially for that place. He couldn't remember what it was called, but he'd seen a poster of the movie they were playing these days, it was called Journey to Space. That seemed like something she would appreciate, and to be honest he really wanted to see that movie as well.

This morning he had received and angry owl from Astoria, it seemed that she was not pleased with the fact that he didn't care who he told that he was single again, and that she believed that he needed to send her money. She had always been like that. The façade was much more important than the actual truth. And her owl had gone on and on about the same things. They didn't have any children, _thank Merlin,_ but she acted very much like he owed her something. He didn't, and she knew it. He had treated her well all through their relationship, though remaining somewhat aloof, as he wasn't in love with her. It had been a convenient compatible match. Until he'd found her going at it like rabbits with her muggle private trainer on their living room floor. It hadn't been a large shock and he wasn't particular hurt by it, other than her lack of finesse about it. But now he was done pretending.

He had believed the same as Astoria himself once and before the war, their match would probably have been quite happy, but since the war that had been changed drastically. Standing in the ruined Great Hall of Hogwarts, his second home, with cheers for the end of the Dark Lord, and with sobs for the good people lost, his entire world had shifted to a new normal. He knew that he was very lucky that his family was intact and when Harry Potter had kindly offered to speak at both his and his mothers' trial after the war, they had accepted gratefully. In the end, both Potter and Granger had spoken at both their trials, though they both had flatly refused to speak at his fathers' trial.

As Potter had said, if there weren't any good to say, I shouldn't say anything, and it was true. Even Draco couldn't think of one mitigating thing his father had done in the war, or indeed before then, to soften his fathers' circumstances. The only thing he had done, was not to join in the fighting at the very end of the battle of Hogwarts. His mother had kept to herself after being cleared of all charges, and had kept him close, and she had kept on stressing the importance of family. Shortly thereafter she had introduced him to Astoria.

He apparated out of the rain, and to an alley beside the movie theatre he was taking Granger to, and bought two tickets for the next evening. After that he apparated home to write three very different letters. One was a very short curt reply to Astoria saying that now he was starting to date, their charade was over. She wasn't getting another galleon of his, or indeed any more of his time. The second was longer and to his mother. He explained what had happened between him and Astoria, he apologized for not having told her earlier, and he told her of his hopes for an upcoming date he had. Though he didn't tell her who he was going on a date with yet, because if things didn't work out, she wouldn't be sad for him for that long. His mother longed for him to have someone in his life, and for her as added company. Her circle of acquaintances had been depleted since the war. The last letter was to Granger, it was short and respectful he thought.

_Dear Granger._

_Thank you for the cake this afternoon, it saved my day._

_Would you please join me for dinner and a movie tomorrow? If so, please send me your address, so I can pick you up in a proper gentlemanly fashion. The movie starts at six, and will last roughly two hours, so I have planned dinner afterwards._

_Looking forward to your reply._

_D. Malfoy_

He read it several times, and feeling satisfied with it, he sent it off first. The two other letters could wait until his owl returned. He didn't have to wait long though, just three quarters of an hour later, his eagle owl swooped in with a rely.

_Dear Malfoy._

_Thank you for your company this afternoon, it was lovely._

_Yes, I'd love to join you for dinner and a movie tomorrow. I didn't know you knew about movies, so many surprises from you in just one day._

_Looking forward to tomorrow._

_H. Granger_

_P.S. My address is as follows…_

She had matched his tone in the reply, he smirked to himself. This witch was definitely worth getting to know a lot better. She seemed to be laughing at him in the letter, well, he didn't really mind that much, he wasn't as stiff as he used to be. But she had written that his company had been lovely, he stared at the word completely caught. No one had ever used that word to describe anything about him. He quite liked it.

Now, back to business he sent off his owl again with both letters, instructing it to fly to Astoria first and leave at once, and stay with his mother for as long as she required the owl. He always did this. His mother needed the company, even if it was just an owl she saw a couple of times a week.

He needed just one thing, a restaurant. Of this he thought long and hard. Wizard or muggle establishment? Finally, he decided on a special kind of muggle establishment, and stood to go make the reservations. He knew the muggles were able to make food-magic as well, and he hoped that she didn't know that yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My inspiration for the movie theatre Draco wants to take Hermione is the Planetarium in Copenhagen, Denmark, go to this site if you want to know more: www dot planetarium dot dk/en


	3. Dating

There was no doubt in Hermione’s mind, that going out with Malfoy… _Maybe I should call him_ _Draco,_ was a good idea. He was handsome, fun in his own way, intelligent and most importantly, he wasn’t brash the way Ron had been. She desperately needed some attention, that didn’t involve her hero-status. Her self-worth had suffered since the war, as most men interested in her, hadn’t really been interested in _her_ , but much more interested in being mentioned and photographed in Witch Weekly, which meant that she hadn’t gone out much. She knew that Malfoy didn’t need that kind of attention, and just that thought brightened her mood considerably.

Her dating experiences in general had been lacking, she knew that. But she couldn’t really be bothered with all of the attention that was always drawn any time she went anywhere in the magical world. Really she just wanted some peace. Ron had loved it of course, lapping it up, which has been a contributing factor in their highly publicized breakup. She had been out with Viktor after the breakup, but that had led to an even bigger tabloid frenzy, and she just didn’t want it. She was working on modernizing the Ministry along with Minister Shacklebolt. It was exiting work, and very text heavy, she was completely in her element. Plus working with Kingsley directly gave her a break from all of the attention, he treated her just as before the war, and she loved it, as it made her feel somewhat normal. All of her supposedly heroic acts during the war seemed a lifetime ago now, and she didn’t feel all that brave these days.

She had seen Luna just the other day, that woman seemed to have some sort of seer magic, because she had told her point blank that she would have to put in some effort this weekend, but that it would be worth it all. Oh, and also that she had to watch out for Wrackspurts, because her head would be fuzzy, though she just said that she assumed it would be because of the Wrackspurts, as they were sweeping the nation.

Before today she had never given much thought as to what she wore, but somehow this now felt like a monumental decision. She needed something to make her feel like herself, but a bit more desirable and, well, brave. Standing in front of the closet the afternoon before their date, she pondered her options. There was always a dress, but the weather hadn’t improved since their coffee shop run-in, so that was out. Then there were pants, but which ones? In the end, she chose a pair of fitted dark blue jeans, black high heels and an emerald green blouse. She knew he would appreciate the gesture, though she would be wearing muggle clothes, but she had a shrewd idea that he would be over that by now. The clothes sorted, what to do about the hair. She looked in the mirror, having never really spent that much time fussing over herself, she wasn’t sure what to do about it. In the end she chose to wear it down, though she was going to appease her unruly locks with a potion or two during her shower. Smiling happily to herself, she went to her bathroom to take a long shower.

* * *

Draco was stuck for the afternoon at the manor, discussing all sorts of different fabrics with his mother, though his contributing to the conversation was negligible. She was redoing the entire manor from top to bottom, not only changing the magical aura in the place, but also brightening it considerably. He almost thought it would be nice to live at home again when she would be done. But no, he had gotten so used to living in his own, that living with his mother again would almost suffocate him. Almost. He had gotten himself a nice large flat close to Diagon Alley. As his offices were there he could walk in every day, and he loved the fresh air. It gave him some peace and quiet, and the shopkeepers on the way had stopped staring at him a good while ago. He was still notorious in some wizarding peoples’ minds, but in general they left him alone. Only once a month or so did someone shout at him, or throw stuff at him. He could live with that, even though he sometimes had a very hard time living with his past deeds. At least no one hexed him anymore. His nightmares didn’t go away, no matter how cheerful his day had been, and no matter who he had slept beside.

He was deep in thought when his mother jerked him back to the present.

“Draco, are you sure you are okay? You’ve just nodded to painting the lounge bright fuchsia, are you certain that is the color you find most agreeable for an area we spend so much time in?”

“I apologize mother, my mind was elsewhere. No, of course I don’t think the lounge should be painted bright fuchsia.”

She smiled at him, something she hadn’t done much of before the war, but her smiles were much more frequent now. Her husband, Lucius Malfoy, had been incarcerated in Azkaban after the war, and had been given kiss some years back. His crimes could not be forgiven by neither the wizarding public or the Wizengamot. After that she had been very low for about a year, but now she was back with a vengeance. She was engaged in almost all charities that he knew of, she was redecorating the entire manor, and she was dating again, something that had been a bit hard for him to swallow at first, but he wanted her to be happy. That was his main priority.

After a while, he kept looking at his watch, he needed to pick up Hermione, and he hated being late, plus he needed to get home, shower and change before leaving. His mother eyed him speculatively.

“Do you have a date tonight darling?”

His head snapped up. “How did you know?”

“Oh, your demeanor gives it all away.” She waved her hand airily at him. “You are so easy to read, when one knows what signs to look for. Is she anybody special?”

He knew she was fishing, her curiosity about his love life had increased exponentially with her desire to have grandchildren. “You will know if it is necessary for you to. You know that mother. If it turns out to be serious, I will introduce her to you.”

“That is all I ask for darling.” She smiled as he stood and kissed her cheek.

“I will see you soon again, please don’t choose only beige colors?”

“I won’t darling, but you must admit…”

He cut her off. “I am sorry mother, but I have to go. Tell me all about the merits of beige the next time I see you.” And with one last look at her smiling face, he stepped into the floo, calling out his address.


	4. The first date (part 1)

Draco was hurrying around his house, he was never late and he hated other people being late, so this was somewhat of a sensitive issue for him. But this also meant that his mother's ramblings about _beige_ had made him late, so he rushed in the shower, wondering how on earth a woman attached to dark colors and silver all of her life, all of the sudden liked beige of all colors. Granted, it had its uses in her decorating schemes, but he would rather not have the entire lounge decked out in different shades of the color, as she was undoubtedly planning this very minute.

After a hurried shower, he almost fell into his walk-in closet to get his clothes for the night, he wasn't really looking at his choices, he just rushed through it. Two minutes to six, he checked his appearance in the mirror, he thought he looked okay, black slacks, a crisp white shirt open at the collar, and a casual dark brown leather jacket, a distinct muggle attire, but he was taking her to the muggle world, so it was just right. After pocketing his wand, he stepped into the floo and shouted her address.

He whooshed into a fireplace in a whirl of green and stopped dead in his tracks. His and her homes couldn't have been more different if they tried. His flat had no clutter, and many clean lines, he had become fond of Scandinavian-esque furniture, they were so different from the elaborate furniture he had grown up around, and he liked the look very much. Granger's flat was nothing like that. _At all._ On every surface there was pictures, nick-nacks, books, parchment, quills, muggle post-its and lots of items that he couldn't even identify. On the sofa there were a ball of ginger fluff in the middle of a pile of parchment. And the fluff was purring, quite loudly. He was unsure what it was until it raised its head. It turned out that the fluff was a ginger furry squashed-faced cat with curious yellow eyes. It regarded him almost imperiously. He didn't really know what to do with himself, he didn't really want to move further into her apartment when she didn't know he had arrived. Just then he heard her voice.

"Malfoy, is that you?"

Who else, he thought. "Yes."

"Okay, just give me a minute!" She sounded a bit panicked.

"Take your time, we're in no rush."

Somehow her being a bit late didn't really bother him, but he didn't have much time to think about that, as the ginger cat got up, stretched, jumped off the sofa and started to move in his direction. He didn't know the cat, so he was uncertain what to do, but he stayed upright in the same spot. The cat sauntered up to him and started sniffing around his shoes and legs. Then it sat two feet in front of him, staring directly at him, and he snorted a bit, the cat was unnerving. But as he snorted, it moved back towards him and started rubbing up against his legs, purring loudly.

At that moment Hermione showed up in the door, looking so completely amazing, his jaw almost dropped. Her dark wash jeans showed off her fantastic physique to a tee, high heels had changed her posture since he saw her in the coffee shop, a green shirt gave her brown-gold eyes lovely glint, and her hair cascaded down her back in tamed luscious curls. She was smiling at him, and then spotted her cat, stopping her in her tracks.

"He usually never does that." She gestured to the still purring cat at his feet. She frowned. "It took him ages to like Harry and Ginny, and he still doesn't like Ron. Huh." She looked a bit surprised, so he just smiled at her. It was a genuine smile, and she was instantly enchanted.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, just let me grab my jacket." She walked into her hall and came back wearing a short black leather coat, and took a deep breath. "All right, let's go." She seemed a bit nervous, but then she smiled at him, so he took her hand, and apparated them to an alley close to cinema.

During the short walk to the cinema Hermione took the opportunity to really look at him. Her hand was still in his, and she liked the feeling. She looked at him, he was wickedly attractive, looking more like a Greek god among mortals, then just the Malfoy she had known throughout her school days. He was no longer that sneering boy. He was a tall, lean man who moved incredibly gracefully, his grey eyes were dark like a thunderstorm, but they had a spark as he looked at her. He had reached the cinema, he bought their tickets, and the walked into the strange place. The lighting inside was dimmed and it was filled with all sorts of planets, star constellations, stones on display in cases and she was completely fascinated. He told her to look at the exhibition while he got them drinks and popcorn at the counter. She was more than happy to comply.

She walked around the items on display, completely transported, and more excited than ever to see the movie. In a particular dark corner of the display she had found a large dark board lit up with lots of LED lights and a smaller board in front of her with buttons on it. It showed the night sky and a lot of the constellations that had been named. On the small board there were constellation names by the buttons, she chose one very specifically, Draco. The entire board dimmed, except for that one constellation she was looking for that was still shining brightly. She felt movement beside her, and she locked eyes with the man named after the constellation. After a few seconds he broke the silence.

"Granger, you're staring."

"Oh, sorry." She was flustered, but he just smirked and moved closer to her.

"Don't worry, I think you look gorgeous too." She could feel his breath on her ear, and she felt shivers down her spine and flutters in her belly. He took one small step back, but he was still very close. "I got our drinks and popcorn, you want to go in?"

She just nodded, slightly shaken. He smelled amazing, like a mixture of how a forest smell just after the rain, cedarwood soap and something very masculine, it was intoxicating to her and she couldn't help but breathe him in deeply as he took her hand with the tantalizing smirk still in place and lead her inside.

Their seats were up quite high, and directly in the center of the aisle. The angle of the seats was quite unnerving, but it accommodated the almost circle-like screen around them. She took it all in with wide eyes while the lights were still on, and people filled the seats. He was completely captivated by her, and he adored that she had chosen to show his namesake constellation on the board outside.

A deep male voice filled the large room they were in. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please don't be alarmed, but your seats will now be tilted a few degrees back, for you to emerge yourself in the wondrous journey we are about to take."

Hermione turned to him and beamed, and his smile at her was just as wide. She then leaned back, he wanted to follow her lead. She took his hand in hers. He watched her in wonder, her eyes wide as the movie began. He really wanted to just watch her watch the movie, but he knew that would be just too weird, so he sat back as they began their journey into space.


	5. The first date (part 2)

When the movie was over, Draco realized that her hand had drifted into his, he liked the feel of her small hand in his. As soon as the lights turned on he turned to her, and she positively beamed at him.

"I loved it! That was amazing! I mean, in astronomy of course, we've had a glimpse of the universe, but that was completely incredible, I felt like we were floating among the stars! What did you think about it? Maybe they have a continuing movie, but oh, I'd love to see that again!"

 She kept on gushing about it all the way out to the street and back to the alley they originally had apparated to, and he didn't have a chance to get a word in.

"Granger, close your mouth for one moment please." She closed her mouth mid-sentence and eyed him a bit suspiciously.

"I'm very glad you liked it, and now I'm going to apparate us to dinner, okay?"

She looked at him, flabbergasted and nodded.

"Good, now lean in." He smirked at her, embraced her a apparated them to the small seaside village.

She hated side-along apparition, it was usually awful, but it wasn't that bad with him, locked in his arms, inhaling his wonderful scent, it was more than bearable. As they arrived, she could smell a salty tang mixing with his scent, were they near the sea? Untangling herself from him, quite unwillingly, she looked around. It was dark, windy, cold but utterly picturesque and charming. He had apparated them to a small hill close to the village and the entire small village could be seen from the low vantage point. The village was filled with small quaint black-stained timber framed cottages with whitewashed walls, it looked like a contender for the loveliest village in Britain, and she was completely delighted with it.

He just took in her brilliantly beautiful features as she scanned the village before them with sparkling eyes.

"Come on Granger, let's go eat." He took her hand as casually as possible, really just wanting to hold it again, and to his relief, she didn't pull her hand back.

The restaurant was by the only small square in the village, and from the outside it looked like nothing special. It looked just the same as the houses surrounding it, except with more lights inside. She was baffled, but intrigued at the same time. He led her inside, and immediately she was met with so many lovely smells that she was almost overwhelmed. They were taken to a small table at the back, which had a view of the ocean bashing the rocks and a collection of small boats illuminated by their lanterns. It was breathtaking.

The waiter approached them. "Welcome to the restaurant. We will serve you the five course meal with accompanying wine menu, all the dishes will be relatively small, but delicious. Please enjoy." With that, he left them on their own.

"Don't we get a choice of food?" She questioned the blond man in front of her.

"No, they only serve one single menu, it's the only choice when you book a table here, but I promise you that you're going to love it, it really is excellent food here."

"From the delightful smells in here, I'm certain that you are right. Do we know what the menu will be?"

"Again, no. They choose the menu from the selection of local produce available, it changes all the time. And in case you're wondering, I've only been here with my mother before."

The first course arrived, and it looked like a small mossy patch of grass, they both eyed it very questionably, but of course it tasted amazing, consisting of lobster and vegetables. So were all of the following courses. The second course was chicken broth disguised as a cup of tea, the third looked like a piece of cake with custard, but were in reality a steak with potatoes and gravy, the fourth were a pallet cleanser that looked like a shiny mushroom but tasted like a minty sorbet, and the fifth and final distinctly looked like a small pile of wood chippings on a wooden chopping block, but in reality it was a collection of amazing ways to work with chocolate, it contained both cake, mousse and ice cream, consisting of dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate, frozen chocolate, freeze dried chocolate. All the while the wine accompanying the different courses was remarkably good, and matched the fantastic dishes perfectly.

During the dinner they talk incessantly, they laugh, they exchange doubtful looks at the dishes that are served for them, while getting a bit tipsy from the five different wines served for them.

He told her stories about their school days that she'd never heard, and she was shocked, everything that she, Harry and Ron had done during school had always been spread like wildfire to everyone at school, yet here she was hearing stories she'd never heard before.

"Well, I don't expect anything else from Gryffindors, might be brave, but you were all terrible at keeping a secret from teachers and the other houses. At school we protected each other fiercely, which meant keeping the secrets we had been entrusted."

"I've never seen myself as a blabbermouth though." She pouted about that, she really didn't want to have to change her perception about her house-mates.

"I'm sure you're not, but could you say the same of Brown and Patill at school? They were notorious at spreading gossip. I remember your date for the Yule Ball were a particular persistent topic going around the school, and it all came from them, they obsessed about it."

She blushed, and turned her face down to their dessert to escape his penetrating grey stare, it felt like it was boring into her. He kept on talking, as though to cover for her embarrassment.

"At least I can tell you now, you looked utterly beautiful, and I have to say, you do still. I don't even think you realize just how much seeing you at that Ball started to subtly change all of my ingrained opinions from my father."

She blushed scarlet again, and he just smiled at her. A genuine captivating smile.

They finished their dinner talking about other things, her work, his work and their dreams. All too soon for her, he ordered the check and took her back up to the hill to apparate back to her apartment. He had embraced her just as before, and she found that she really liked it. They appeared just outside her building in a small park, and he took her hand to lead her to her doorstep.

"Thank you for a very good evening Granger."

He leaned in, she thought to kiss her, but to her disappointment, he only kissed her cheek and whispered to her. She could feel his hot breath on her cheek and ear, and she relished it.

"I can't wait to see you again"

With a smirk at her expression, he turned back to the park and apparated back to his own flat, feeling very content. Too bad he had to deal with Astoria in the morning.

Back at her doorstep Hermione is feeling flustered, hot, bothered and rather disappointed that he didn't actually kiss her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dinner is inspired by a fantastic bespectacled British chef who is making amazing food art, I've never been (unfortunately) so I'm making it all up :-)


	6. Sunday

She awoke the next day feeling distinctly disappointed. Well, not entirely but somewhat disappointed. Her date with Draco yesterday had been amazing, he had gone all out and had found places that was completely fascinating to her. And she had loved spending time in his company. But the non-kiss… Really? She had wanted him to kiss her very badly, and come to think of it, she still wanted him to kiss her. She couldn't believe he would actually let her hang like that, but him being a Slytherin probably meant that he had some kind of cunning plan behind it all. Gods, she hoped so.

Before their meeting at the café this week, she had never really thought about him in a romantic way. Well, not realistically anyway. He had been her bully, a very fine one at that, but still, not someone she'd ever want to be around voluntarily. His nonchalance about eating with her fork had rattled her completely, and his kisses on her cheek, they heated her to the core. It really flustered her more than she liked, though she had to admit that she did like it.

Unbelievably, she now fancied Draco Malfoy. Who could have known? He was so… She didn't even know how to describe it to herself, but the way he smiled at her made her knees melt, and he'd smiled at her a lot. He didn't look nearly as stringent as he had done at school, he seemed much more relaxed and happy. They'd met many times since the war, but she hadn't really seen him. Now she saw him though, and it sent chills down her spine just thinking about the way he'd held her when they had apparated last night.

Just then, an owl pecked on her window, startling her out of her silent contemplation, it was Luna's owl, a strangely colored owl with yellow and black markings, along with a blue ribbon around tied around its neck in a bow. The owl was perfectly Luna, and delivered a thin envelope and a small package from her friend.

_Dear Hermione._

_I had a dream last night that your head would be exceedingly fuzzy today due to a blonde's influence, it might be because of me, so I have included the remedy for Wrackspurts. You take one gulp of the potion, stand on one leg and flap your arms about above your head. That should do it._

_I think I will run in to you sometime during this week, so I'm looking forward to seeing you._

_Love Luna._

She really did love her friend, her thoughtfulness warmed her heart. Her letters almost never made any sense. She was quite certain what blonde's influence that was making her head fuzzy, and it was not a female blonde.

* * *

Draco awoke late from a pleasant dream of a woman with chocolate-golden eyes and brown curly hair tangled in his sheets to a loud pecking on his window, he groaned loudly and yelled at the owl to go away. It didn't of course. His dream had been so welcome, it had been a fantastic respite from his continuing nightmares. Cursing under his breath, he got up and opened his window, it was Astoria's owl. This day was just not starting the way he'd have liked.

_Draco._

_I cannot believe you. Are you so intent on ruining my reputation that you will resort to this? Our split ought to be at least amicably in public, what would your mother say if she knew the particulars of our disbandment? I will await you today at two for tea, and we can discuss the official particulars of our split._

_I have to say that I think you at least have to give me a parting gift, you can afford it, and it wasn't as though our split was my fault. I see no reason for you to avoid this, I have a fondness for emeralds if you recall. That would possibly suffice if you get something large enough for me._

_Astoria._

He was both angry and horrified at her. Angry at her indifference to her loud indiscretion in their living room and angry at the fact that he had wasted years on that woman. Horrified at her assumption of him getting her jewelry and at her allusion to the fact that she would tell his mother her version of their breakup. Of course, Astoria didn't know that his mother now knew everything. She wasn't a Slytherin and his mother for nothing, she had forced him to tell her everything as soon as his letter had reached her. Even Astoria's talent for scheming could be easily topped by his mother, if she so wished. His mother was an amazingly formidable witch, and he had a healthy amount of respect for her.

He penned a quick letter to the Daily Prophet and then a reply to her, fueled by his not miniscule anger.

_Astoria._

_No, I will not see you to day, or any day for that fact. No, you will not get any jewelry. Tell my mother all you wish, she knows all, so I would be careful with that if I were you. Our split was not amicable, and I have now taken this opportunity to inform the Daily Prophet of our breakup, it will appear in the evening edition. I owe you nothing and I expect this is the end of our contact._

_Draco._

He had hoped to avoid being angry, he prided himself on his indifference towards her, but this was the last straw. With a scowl he took a shower, which mended his mood somewhat, got dressed and flooed to see his mother, all the while thinking of how soon he could have the curly haired witch in his arms again. She was completely addictive to him, her laugh, her smile, her silken dark hair, her conversation, her interest in new things and her fascination with pretty much everything. Maybe he could see her by accident tonight, he pondered this. He did know her address, maybe he could just drop by? It would be a very lame excuse, but he was keen on her and he needed to make sure that she knew that.

His mother greeted him in the lounge, along with three clothed house elves and many dozen packages of every size stacked all over the room.

"Draco my darling. So good to see you. How was your date?" Typical of his mother to go straight to the point. He stared at all of the stuff in the room.

"What happened here mother? Have you bought the entire furniture-shop?"

"Oh no, just a few trinkets to go in the different rooms, you know it's Christmas soon. So, how about that date?"

"It went well, I hope to see her again." He had resigned himself to the fact that she would not let the subject drop.

"Excellent. Are you going to tell me who it is, or do I have to figure it out myself? You know I will figure it out."

"Yes, I do know that mother, but I would prefer it if you didn't try. She's different and I want to make sure. If it goes well over the next couple of weeks, I will introduce her to you."

"But darling, I want to know who she is. If she is different, I'm certain she's not a pureblood, but she must also be a witch. Hmm… Maybe it's a muggleborn, I don't think she's halfblood. I only know of one muggleborn witch really, Hermione Granger, and she is very famous for defeating the Dark Lord along with Harry Potter and their Weasley friend. She is brilliant, and also isn't all that much in the public eye. Is it her Draco?"

She had been talking to herself mostly, but he was fascinated with the way her mind worked. How on earth was she able to guess her name from just one smidgen of information?

"I cannot believe you've actually guessed it." She smiled at him in triumph. "Now that you know, what do you think?"

"I think it is perfect. She is a powerful witch of immense intelligence who can keep you on your toes, and she will be delightful to get to know I'm sure."

He spent the afternoon helping her organize every parcel he could find, and there were lots. He really did hope that her decorating scheme was at an end soon, it was very taxing for his patience. Just then he had an idea that would keep her very busy.

"Mother?"

"Yes dear?"

"How about reinstating the Malfoy winter ball?"


	7. The following week

Draco was restless in his office all the following week, he'd written to Hermione on Sunday to thank her for a lovely date, but now it was Thursday, and he was longing to see her again. She was like a breath of fresh air to him, she spent time with him because she wanted to, and he liked that very much. They had made plans for Saturday night, and now she was in charge of that date, it didn't sit well with him, it wasn't the gentlemanly thing to do, but she had insisted quite fervently and he had agreed at last. Their owls had just had quite a workout that Sunday night. She'd even gone as far as to suggest he got a mobile phone. He'd heard of those and chosen to ignore them in the same thought.

He'd had his issues with Astoria this week as well, along with most of the single witch-population in Britain. Since the small, but noticeable article about his and Astoria's split had appeared in the Daily Prophet, he'd received more than a hundred owls, it drove him slightly mad. Most of them were marriage offers and other salacious offers, he'd burnt all of them after reading just a few. The only thing he'd checked was the senders, as there might have been important mail mixed in with the fan mail. He had also received three howlers from Astoria, the one sent to his office had been quite interesting, as he had been in a meeting at the time the owl had found him. She was not happy with the public knowledge of their breakup, as she had conveniently forgotten to inform her parents, who had been promptly furious with her, and that was all Draco's fault in her mind.

Today his work mostly consisted of overseeing the new potions division of the company, something of an expertise of his, so he decided to throw himself into the Work to distract himself. He'd found an excellent head potioneer from America and an assistant potioneer from Ireland, he had originally partitioned Horace Slughorn for the job, but he was still comfortable at Hogwarts. The two potions masters worked very well together, complimenting each other's knowledge of potion ingredients from around the world. As he left them to do their jobs, he definitely expected great things from them. One of his core plans were for them to find a way to mass produce the Woolfsbane potion at prices that wasn't too expensive for the consumers to buy. Since he and his mother had been reunited with Andromeda and Teddy, and he had understood the struggles his cousin Nymphadora had gone through with his former teacher, as well as understanding the fears of the condition being passed on to Teddy, he had wanted to do _something_.

The day was almost at an end and his stomach growled, it was another late night at the office, but he couldn't resist. He wrote Hermione a short letter smirking to himself, and sent it along with one of his office owls.

_Dear Granger._

_I'm looking very much forward to seeing you the day after tomorrow._

_Is there any way at all that I can persuade you to divulge the plans for our date?_

_D. Malfoy_

* * *

Hermione was working late yet again. She was going to Harry and Ginny's tonight, she had to be there at eight, and it was now seven thirty, which meant she was in no hurry, so she dived back into the huge text she was reading. The old pro pureblood laws had turned out to be quite hard to eradicate from the laws of the British wizarding world as there were so very many of them, and each had to be tackled separately. It wasn't the most interesting of projects, but it was gratifying all the same every time she succeeded a change, which was relatively often.

After what felt like a moment later, she looked up at her watch, it was now five minutes past eight. _Oh no, I'm running late._ She hurriedly grabbed her coat and her bag. Harry and Ginny had taken up residence in Number 12 Grimauld Place, still inhabited by Kreacher, who had refused point blank to be freed, but he was a happy elf. Kreacher even happily tolerated small James and Albus Potter pulling at his ears and nose every time they had the opportunity. Harry and Ginny were living in the old Black house and there were many enchantments upon the house, but one floo network to the house was connected to the ministry, the one in the minister's office. So Hermione ran down the long hall and stumbled into Minister Shacklebolt's office, startled at the group of people convened there. Usually Kingsley had left for the day, or were alone at this hour.

"I apologize Minister Shacklebolt, I only need to use your floo."

"Of course Hermione, go right ahead." He said in his deep rumbling voice.

Every face in the office was directed at her chaotic hair and flustered appearance. It was all purebloods from the old families, seated at the minister's long meeting table, that had clearly been magically elongated since she was last here. Some was gawping at her, some shot her angry looks, but most just seemed surprised at her sudden appearance in the office, and the minister's lack of reaction to her appearance in his office. Only one face really stood out to her, it was Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy. She looked almost appraisingly at her, gave her a small nod, and returned to the table in front. It seemed that Narcissa Malfoy was directing the meeting. So she moved to the floo, hearing some of Narcissa's words.

"So, you can all see that we need a change. The Malfoy winter charity ball will propel us all back into respectability, that we haven't known for years, and," She gestured to Kingsley. "with the ministry backing the ball, I am certain it will be a great success."

Hermione stepped into the floo, saying the address low enough so no one in the room could hear it, and flooed to Harry's house. She wondered about that meeting and she wondered why Kingsley hadn't informed her, though charity balls weren't exactly on the top of her priorities list.

"Hermione! Finally, we've been waiting for you!" Ginny threw her arms around her as soon as she'd stopped spinning in the grate. She was clutched around each leg by one small boy, and another, somewhat smaller one.

"Mi'ne!" She hugged the elder Potter child, James, and picked up Albus who was just a baby.

"Hello boys, are you behaving?"

Both smiled mischievously at her, and she was quite sure that some of the Weasley genes from Fred and George was in both of them, though none of them had red hair. To her it almost seemed like camouflage.

The dinner was lovely, and Ginny, who wasn't the most enthusiastic of chefs, had ordered dessert from a shop instead of making it herself.

"Somehow I always mix up the ingredients when baking, I don't know what I'm doing wrong with the spells!" She said crossly. Hermione patted her friend's shoulder.

"Well don't worry, your food is excellent Ginny, all of your three boys are chomping down as much as they possibly can."

"At least the cake I bought will be tasty, I got it from that coffee shop you recommended."

"Oooh, then I know it'll be good." She smiled at her friend.

The boys were starting to get sleepy, and Ginny confessed that keeping a bed schedule was near impossible because of Harry's work life, so each child was up much longer than she liked, though Hermione saw Albus lean back and snore in his baby seat as they had eaten the main course. A minute later he and James were whisked off to bed by Ginny, leaving Hermione and Harry to make coffee and talk in the lounge.

"So Hermione, how are you? It's been ages since we've seen you."

"I know Harry, I'm sorry, but I have so much work to do. I really think I'm making a difference." She smiled widely at him. "How's the dark wizard catching going?"

"I'm very happy for you. It's alright, but I have crazy hours, it's no wonder we have a hard time giving the boys regular days, I'm gone so much."

Ginny walked in, carrying the store bought cake. It was the carrot cake from her favorite coffee shop, and Hermione couldn't not smile at the reminder of the last time she had cake from that shop. "But what I really want to know is, how's you love life Hermione?"

A tap on the window announced an owl, Harry got up and opened the widow while Ginny continued to question Hermione.

"It's for you Hermione, who's writing to you at this hour?"

Hermione took the letter, opened it a read the shot contents, and smiled to herself. "Well, to be honest, my love life it looking up these days." She had a grin on her face, and Ginny pounded on her, taking the note.

"D. Malfoy..." Ginny looked dumbstruck and Harry was now staring open mouthed at her. "As in Draco Malfoy, Hermione?!"


	8. Discussions and plans

"Are you honestly telling me that you actually fancy Draco Malfoy Hermione?" Ginny was looking highly skeptical at her with narrowed eyes, while Hermione was smiling a somewhat secret smile at her. "Come on!" Now she just sounded exasperated. "He's been your main bully all though school, he's horrible and vile and way way too blonde to be real."

"Hermione." Harry was taking a deep breath, and looking just as skeptical as his red-haired wife. "Are you sure about this? I've seen him every now and then over the years, and I know it seems as though he's changed, but it's Malfoy."

She looked up at her friends. She really was so happy to have them both in her life. And because of that, she needed them to understand. She opened her mouth to explain, just as a whoosh in the fireplace announced an unexpected visitor.

"Hello everyone. How's it hanging?" A grinning George stepped out of the fireplace.

"Good, glad you're here, you can knock some sense into her George!" Ginny was almost shouting at him.

"What? Knock some sense into who? Surely not Hermione. She has more sense than the three of us put together." He looked at Hermione. "If you ever repeat that, I'll deny it flat-out, by the way." He was still grinning, and she grinned right back. She really did love his cheery attitude to the world. He'd been much less enthused about the world after Fred's death, but since he and Angelina had gotten together, she had awoken his dark sense of humor again, and now Angelina's pregnancy had him in a state of almost perpetual happiness.

Hermione had yet to say one word since Ginny had taken Draco's letter from her hands, and it didn't seem as though she would get a word in, as Ginny plowed on.

"She's dating Draco Malfoy! Tell her to stop dating him! I'm sure he's bad news for her!" Ginny was definitely shouting at George now. George turned his wickedly amused face to her.

"Hermione, Hermione. Really?"

She just nodded, confirming what Ginny was shouting about. She wanted them to understand, and she knew that she would not stop dating him, just because her friends were close-minded. George surprised her however.

"Excellent, he's quite brilliant you know. I bump into him all the time, and he comes into the shop more than once a week. At first I was suspicious, but he's standup fellow. Many happy returns Hermione"

Now Ginny gawked at George, and Harry decided that it was time to step in, and stop his wife from shouting again.

"Honey, please calm down, Hermione can take care of herself quite well, I've seen it many times." He looked at Hermione. "I trust your judgement implicitly, you know that. I know that Malfoy has changed, just please be careful about this. We love you, and we just want to see you happy."

"Thank you Harry, I am happy. At least for now. And George, we are not in a relationship, just so you know."

"Whatever Hermione, come by the shop for a chat in a week, and we'll see." He had an unmistakable, and quite annoying smirk on his face.

"I love you all so very much. Please excuse me, I have to go answer this letter." She smiled hugely and hugged all three goodbye and flooed back to her flat. The last thing she saw was Ginny turning towards George, completely red in the face, an imminent explosion waiting to happen, and George moving hastily towards the fireplace.

* * *

Draco was yawning loudly. It was now very late and he was at the manor, having been summoned just before he left the office by his mother to aid in the planning of the ball.

"Draco please. This is not a trifling matter. We have the consensus of the remaining pureblood families, along with the ministry, to host a charity winter ball here at the manor, and we only have a month!" Her voice had risen at the end, and she sounded almost hysterical. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Now, I need you to do quite a few things, I have a list here for you, and I need you all day every weekend from now until the ball." She handed him a long list of chores. He stared rather disbelievingly at the list in his hand. Did his mother not know that he had a large business to run?

"No, I am going on a date with Hermione on Saturday, I will help you all I can any other time."

"Oh dear, I quite forgot. On Saturday I have a meeting with Blaise Zabini in assisting me with the promotion of the ball. We need all of the muggleborns and halfbloods to attend, in order for the ball to be a success. Maybe Hermione could help?" She looked hopefully at him.

"I cannot say, but I'll make sure to ask her when I see her on Saturday mother."

"I want you to be present when I meet with Blaise, he is your friend after all. I'll move the meeting to Sunday. Does lunch here sound good?"

"Sounds perfect." He wasn't at all sure that his suggestion about reinstating the ball was a good idea now. He needed an idea to keep his mother off his back, he didn't have time to assist her with this for an entire month, she needed a party planner. He smirked to himself, Blaise probably knew someone flawless for the job.

"And then I can hear all about your date. Where are you taking her by the way?"

"Well… she is taking me on a date this time, I have no idea what we're doing." He hated not knowing what they would be doing. It was a first for him, he'd never relinquished control of a date like this, and it was discomforting, he liked knowing what he was dressing for. Though, a small voice in the back of his head alerted him to that fact, that this must be how women going on dates with unknown activities must feel most of the time. He winced inwardly at the thought.

"Really?" His mother looked somewhat shocked. "That's very… modern of you Draco. I would never expect you to agree to that. You were raised to be a gentleman." Now she looked reprovingly at him.

"In the end it was un-gentlemanlike to not let her plan this date, she was very persuasive and insisting."

Narcissa smiled. "I'm sure she was Draco. Personally, I find her quite fascinating, and I can't wait to get to know her. Did I tell you I saw her this evening?"

He sat up from his slouch in the wing back chair very fast. "No you didn't. Why did you see her?" He wasn't sure why he was uncomfortable by these news.

"She was using the minister's floo, and that's where we had the meeting tonight. I believe she was going to the Potters, their floo is protected."

"How in Merlin's name do you know that?" His mother had knowledge that sometimes was baffling.

She just smiled at him. "Never underestimate the women in your life Draco. It would only be a disservice to yourself if you did." Quietly he agreed heartily.

After another hour of listening to her ever growing elaborate plans for the ball, he dragged himself to the floo and went back to his flat. He needed someone who was skilled at planning parties to help his mother, he would pay quite handsomely for that actually.

Just as he laid his head on his very comfortable pillow, there was a tap on his window. He groaned and got up, knowing that the owl would just keep on tapping. But the sight of the owl did lift his mood, it was Hermione's owl.

_Dear Malfoy._

_I won't say a word, other than the fact that I can't wait. It'll be brilliant._

_Meet me at my flat at six._

_Looking so much forward to seeing you too._

_H. Granger_

_P.S. Harry, Ginny and George knows, I was with them tonight when I received your note, just a heads up._

He smirked at the letter, his mother had been absolutely correct in her assumption of where Hermione had been going tonight. It would seem that he now had two very persuasive and powerful women in his life. He quite liked that thought.


	9. The second date (part 1)

She was rushing about her flat, again. She was late for her date with Draco, again. This could not be happening. She had fallen into a trap of her own making in the bath, she shouldn't have brought her favorite 19th century novel with her, she had gotten lost in the language and the romance of it, and though she had read it many times before, she loved it more for every rereading. She had a feeling that he didn't exactly appreciate lateness, though he was much too much of a gentleman to tell her. She had done her minimal makeup, her hair, and now needed clothes, and it was ten to six, she was in trouble, and she had no idea what to wear. It would only be their second date, she was in charge of it and she wanted it to be a success. She really liked him, she could be herself with him which meant the world to her.

A bolt of lightning lit up her flat, followed by deep rumbling thunder, it was pouring down outside, at least they would be in the dry for most of the date, but she was anxious about what Draco would say to going by car, and not apparition or floo. Well, he'd just have to get over it… hopefully.

Ten minutes later she was dressed and ready to go. This time she had opted for a burgundy bodycon dress with a neckline to her collarbone and a hemline just above her knees. It had the illusion of seeming very proper, but it was also quite fitted so it showed off her curves which she loved. She had paired the dress with her favorite black high heels and of course her black winter coat, in this weather she wouldn't leave her house without it. She had just put on her heels when she heard the familiar whoosh in her lounge, he was here.

Draco stepped out of her fireplace for the second time. Everything looked just the same, even the ginger cat was still purring on the sofa. It raised its head once to see who had entered the lounge, looked rather piercingly at him, and went right back to purring.

He heard her heels in the hallway, and as soon as she turned the corner hos jaw dropped, and he couldn't speak for a moment. He just stood and took it all in, she was drop dead gorgeous. She seemed quite pleased with his dumbstruck reaction to her look, she had a small smile playing around her mouth, and he had an overwhelming desire to kiss her senseless. He willed his body to move towards her, and he kissed her on the cheek.

"Hermione, you look completely amazing." It was the first time he had used her first name.

"Thank you very much Draco. You look very handsome yourself." She still had that small smile playing around her lips, it was befuddling his brain, and he prided himself on being composed and clear minded in all situations. It was all out the window around this witch.

"Are you ready to go?" She was pulling on her scarf and winter coat.

"Yes. Where are we going exactly?"

"You'll see soon enough, come on." She took his hand and dragged him out of the flat, down the stairs. He was confused, was she actually going to go out into the torrential rainstorm outside? He felt a small breeze around him, of course, she had cast a non-verbal impervious charm on both of them.

"Are you ready to run?" She was grinning at him, and no, he wasn't ready, but before he could say so, she was sprinting as fast as her heels would allow down the street.

A silver car about 50 meters from them beeped, and she jumped in the drivers side, he was puzzled, but jumped in the passenger side. She was grinning from ear to ear at him.

"Don't forget to buckle up."

"Buckle up?" This evening was confusing him more by the minute.

"Put on your seat belt, see?" She pulled a strap from behind her and locked it around her at the opposite base of her seat, so he mimicked her.

"Why aren't we apparating or flooing to where we're going?" He was suspicious of this muggle contraption, he'd been in a car a couple of times, but he didn't really trust the thing.

She just shrugged, pulled out into the traffic and they were off. "I wanted to do something different. I use this car mostly on weekends when going to see my muggle friends, plus it's easy to get to where we're going by car."

They drove for around ten minutes, during which he kept on asking her random questions about the car, why this and that was lit up, what she did with the controls, but the hardest part to grasp was what she called the gears.

"So, what do they do exactly?"

"The gears are used for transmitting the power from one part of the machine to another. The gears transmit the power from the rotating axle that takes power from the engine, the crankshaft, to the driveshaft running under the car, that ultimately drives the wheels." She had rattled the explanation off to him rather quickly, just like she did at school, and he was nowhere near understanding the gears at all, but he decided to keep his mouth shut, he didn't want to seem like a complete dunce.

He changed the subject and they chatted all the way to a small shop below a train bridge. She parked the car in a seemingly deserted area, he was intrigued.

"This is where we are going to eat." She had a huge smile on her face, and she was gesturing to a small fish and chips shop, situated underneath the train bridge.

"A Fish and chips shop?" Now he was back to being confused, he was sure the expression was now permanent on his face.

She just smiled her secret smile, took his hand and pulled him inside. "Grab a table, and I'll get the food." And she left him to stand in the cue.

He took a moment to look around. It was bigger than it seemed from the outside, it had a bar where orders were taken, and you could pick up the food. The employees was working at an amazing speed, and the cue was moving fast, so he looked around for a table. There were six stalls, three by each wall, and six tables in the middle. Every one of them were full. Luckily a couple was just leaving a stall, taking their plates back up to the bar. He sat down and waited two minutes before she appeared.

"So, here is the best fish and chips in London; crisp, golden batter, moist, succulent fish, perfect mushy peas and fluffy chips. Oh yes, and our beers." She smiled a bit nervously and pulled two beers out of the pockets of her coat.

"It looks completely delicious, cheers." They had no glasses, so they clinked the beers and drank straight from the bottle.

The food was delicious, and they talked during the entire meal. He had a heart stopping moment when he reached over automatically to wipe some mushy peas from the top of her lips, they felt so soft, and his fingers lingered for a brief moment.

Hermione looked at the blonde wizard in front of her, he was everything she wanted in a man. He made her laugh, he made her happy, he appreciated her intellect, and it undoubtedly didn't hurt that he was just so good looking. She would need lots more dates to determine if they were a good match in the long run, but she had a feeling they were. He made her entire body thrum just by the merest touch. Gods, she wanted him to kiss her, didn't he want that too?


	10. The second date (part 2)

They left the fish and chips shop soon after finishing the food, it wasn't a place you lingered after eating, as more and more people were eating standing up or outside the place, it was completely packed. When they were walking to her car he held her hand, he liked that and he liked that she let him. It had stopped raining, and he hoped it would stay dry for remainder of the night.

He buckled up, as she instructed him playfully again, and they pulled out into the traffic. She explained that the next place they were going would be a theatre to see a play by a muggle, and they just needed to drive for about twenty minutes. However, as soon as they emerged from the tunnel underneath the Thames she had to stop, they were stuck in completely non-moving traffic. She started fiddling with some of the dials in the centre of the car, and a radio came on. It seemed a lot more boring than Wizards Wireless, but as least they now knew what had happened, a very solemn voice started talking.

"Anybody out in their cars tonight ought to steer clear of the North circular road around London city airport going in the northern direction, there has been a massive car crash involving six cars and a lorry just before the Newham Way roundabout. We have yet to find out about the severity of the crash, and emergency services are on their way. If you're already on the circular road, have some patience, it might take a while."

She turned down the radio and twisted the key in the ignition, the car went silent. "Oh no, we'll miss the play, I really wanted you to see it."

"What is it about? Who wrote it?"

"It was written by a muggle called Willian Shakespeare, and it is a comedy with elements of mistaken identities, love, robust hilarity with more serious meditations on honour, shame, and court politics. It's called Much Ado About Nothing, it's an intelligent play and I was really looking forward to showing it to you."

She said it a bit dejectedly and he had an overwhelming urge to make her happy again. He could hear the rain had started up again.

"Well, since we seem to be stuck here, why don't you tell me the story?" He smiled encouragingly at her, hoping to get her to tell the story. He liked the sound of her voice plus they needed a topic for the presumed hours they were going to spend in the traffic.

"Are you sure? I mean, it's a lot better when watching it played on stage."

"I am absolutely certain, please." He gestured with his hand for her to tell the story, her small summery had awoken his curiosity.

And so, she started telling him the story of Benedick, Beatrice, Claudio and Hero. He found himself enraptured by the tale, and at one point he even caught himself actually caring whether or not the characters in the play got their happy ending. She was an excellent story teller, but in the end he was solely focused on her mouth, she had a beautiful mouth that went perfectly with her beautiful face, her mouth had a lovely cupids bow and a full bottom lip, he wanted to see what her mouth on his felt like. He had almost started to lean in, when the cars around them started back up. They'd been stuck there for more than two hours. Without knowing his intentions, she turned abruptly from him and started up the car. The traffic was moving very slowly, and it took then another thirty minutes to get past the crash site.

"Now what? We've missed the play and it's pouring down outside. Do you have any backup plans?" He was smirking at her, and she loved his smirk. It lit her up from the inside like a bonfire.

"No, no backup plans unfortunately. But how about a coffee at my house?" Her heart was beating hard in her chest, she wanted him to say yes badly.

"Good plan, should we pick up some cake on the way? I always fancy that carrot cake."

"Yes, let's go get us some carrot cake." She turned to him, beaming with a huge smile on her face.

They pulled up outside The Leaky Cauldron and went in to Diagon Alley, the rain was still pouring down like a curtain, so they walked quickly. When they reached the café, he bought an entire carrot cake. That seemed a bit much, and she looked sceptically at him.

"What? It's good cake, and I'll be taking some of it home with me." He grinned brightly at her. She liked this Draco, he made her smile.

They made their way back to her flat in the car, his hand casually on the back of her seat, she was flustered in his presence. They were alone now, and they would be for at least another hour in her flat, if you didn't count Crookshanks. On their one other date, they had been in public all the time and now what? Well, the rational part of her brain kicked in, she would make him coffee and they would eat the fantastic cake. And maybe kiss. Well, she hoped very much that they would kiss.

They parked and walked to her building, up the stairs and into her darkened hallway, where she placed the cake on her small sideboard. They were standing very close in the darkness and he was looking down at her, she was completely caught by the determined expression in his molten silver eyes, and then he leaned down slowly.

All thought seemed to have left her completely. He put his lips on her mouth gently. His lips were so soft and perfect to her, their bodies were almost touching and she longed to place her hands on his chest or around his neck, but she kept very still, afraid to embarrass herself and ruin the moment if she moved. She was captivated by his scent, that forest scent, cedarwood soap and that undefinable masculine scent that was so… Draco. She took a deep breath though her nose, completely intoxicated by him.

He put both his hands on her hips, moving one to the small of her back to help her to relax, but she rigidly kept her stiff posture. He ran his tongue over her lips begging for entry. She opened her mouth timidly and welcomed him in, she moaned softly and he caught her moan with his mouth. Heat roared down his spine. He melted for her, he spread his hands on her back.

Her scent overwhelmed him, it was enveloping his entire being, and he knew he would always do everything he could to keep this specific witch happy, she was everything to him. He should have known. Even in school, but he had been blind. He was blind no longer, and could now see all of the wonders of this amazing woman in his arms. She smelled like a summers day to him, like sunshine and happiness.

But she had not melted into him as women usually did during this kind of kiss, and Gods he wanted her to. So he stopped kissing her and just looked down at her, he wanted her to move, to surrender herself to this kind of magic. Her eyes opened slowly, like dazed pools of desire, while her breath was coming in quick little pants.

"Hermione," he said huskily, "put your hands around my neck."

She blinked once and looked down at her hands as though she had forgotten they were there.

"Oh… Yes."

She seemed almost surprised by his request and lifted her arms around his neck and looked up at him, he took one small step forward and brought his entire body flush into contact with hers and brought his face down to hers again.

This time she responded in kind and he was almost brought to his knees for her, as she gasped and moaned and leaned deeper into him.

They stood there kissing for what seemed like hours, or it could have been nothing more than minutes, he had no idea. He just didn't want to stop tasting her, now that he finally had her in his arms. But very slowly they broke apart, they still had their arms around each other and he couldn't stop himself, he leaned back in a couple of times to kiss her again.

When she finally looked at him, her smile was blinding and he beamed right back at her.

"Let's go have some cake, shall we?" He asked.

She nodded, took his hand and pulled him to the kitchen, where he was tasked with carrying the plates and cutlery to the lounge. There Crookshanks was sprawled on the sofa like he owned the place. Hermione followed him in with the coffee that was heating magically as she walked. She pulled the cat from his sprawling position and placed him in a wingback chair, the cat only gave her a small purr and started liking his paws.

They spent the remainder of the evening on her sofa talking, laughing, eating cake and kissing, lots and lots of kissing and he left well after midnight with a feeling of the sun shining from within him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the first kiss was worth waiting for :-)


	11. Another Sunday

Hermione woke up with a smile on her face. She relaxed on her bed still a bit groggy, her dreams had been so vivid, they had seemed almost real. She blinked a couple of times, staring at the ceiling while her brain unclouded some more. Now that her memories from yesterday returned slowly, she realized that her dreams had been real, it had actually happened, that kiss, the following kisses, the conversation, the company had all been real. She smiled even wider and hugged her duvet, she felt happy, really from-within-happy for the first time in ages.

With a new spring in her movements, she got up and did just a small gig, she was giddy and she knew it. It was perfect that she would be seeing Luna later for lunch, she would be very accepting of her state of mind today. For the first time in months, she approached her stereo in the lounge and turned on the music loudly, it was girlish pop and she was loving it, dancing around her lounge for a couple of minutes before entering her shower. She felt restless, she couldn't seem to stay still at all. She needed to walk, to run, to dance, or something. Her shower lasted all but five minutes and she dried herself off quickly magically, it was quicker. The music was still blaring through her flat and she was still swaying with every step as she danced stark-naked to her bedroom.

Dressed and groomed, she exited her building and started walking briskly towards The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. She still had forty-five minutes before she was due to meet Luna and she would be there in less than ten, what to do then? A brilliant idea popped into her head. She would pass by the muggle book store on the way and buy Draco Much Ado About Nothing. If he couldn't see the play, he would be able to read the entire story, instead of her fragmented retelling of the story. With that decided, she spent the next twenty minutes inside the book store choosing between the four different editions of the play that were available. In the end, she chose a new leather bound edition and had it gift wrapped at the cashier.

Luna was waiting for her at the café. She was smiling absentmindedly at her as she approached the table.

"I had a hunch you would be early, so I arrived early as well." They hugged and sat down. Luna turned her large silvery dream-like eyes on Hermione. "Who's the book for?"

Hermione smiled at her friend, it was typical Luna, she really was impressed with her nonchalance regarding her quite impressive seer magic, though, unlike their divination teacher at school, she did not advertise her abilities. Indeed, to Luna, her abilities were just as natural as her love for quirky animals, it just came naturally to her. In spite of Hermione's natural aversion to divination, it really did seem silly most of the time, but the years had shown her that Luna was no fraud.

A waitress approached them and they both ordered the brunch plate and coffee with milk and sugar.

"Well… It's for a friend." She wasn't really certain what to call Draco, they hadn't exactly labelled their dating… or their wonderful kisses.

"Are you sure that's what he is to you?"

She hesitated, not sure how to answer that, but Luna, with her uncanny ability, saw right through her.

"You like him. That's good because you fit quite well. I'm very happy for you. He's not like he used to be at school, you know."

"I know, now I just need some of our friends to realize that as well."

"Oh Ginny will come around, she's just being her usual stubborn self. Rolf says hi by the way." Luna smiled at her dreamily and started eating, humming quietly to herself.

"How are you and Rolf doing?"

Luna then proceeded to tell her about her relationship with Rolf Scamander, and they talked late into the afternoon, enjoying each other's company.

* * *

"Draco darling, I'm so glad you're here, Pansy needs your opinion with some of the decorative plans, and I need help with the guest list, its growing rapidly. Go to Pansy first, she and Blaise are in the ballroom. And by the way, it's now called the Winter Charity Ball." His mother greeted him as he exited the floo with a rapid torrent of words, without actually greeting him. She was surrounded by five other pureblood witches, who were all working on the ball, and the house elves were milling around, carrying lots of items into the ballroom. "Did you remember to invite your friend?" She didn't take her eyes of the parchment in her hand.

"Mother, you do realize that the ball isn't for another couple of weeks, right? And no, I forgot, but I will send her an owl today." The witches around his mother were listening avidly, but he ignored them and turned for the ballroom. He hated that his love life was so interesting to gossipmongers.

"I know darling, we're frightfully behind on both the planning and execution. Now go."

Frightfully behind? He had a hard time imagining that, the lounge was positively swarming with witches. In the ballroom, he could hear rapid conversation, obviously Pansy was trying to explain something to someone. He caught words like ice sculptures, moron, sparkles and catering. It made no sense to him at all, so Pansy must be in a towering mood. Sure enough, as he turned the corner, Pansy was pacing barefoot in front of Blaise, her towering high heeled shoes lay forgotten in a corner.

"Blaise, you moron!" She was shouting at the top of her lungs. "How am I supposed to arrange this ball if you keep making changes?!"

"Relax Pans, don't worry, we'll figure it out, but you know Mrs. Malfoy has instructed me to invite pretty much everyone in the British wizarding world. I can't help that they keep on accepting the invites already, now can I?" He drawled annoyed.

Blaise were draped on one of the remaining sofas in the large room, wearing black leather pants, a tight white t-shirt and dragon skin boots. He looked exactly like the conceited pureblood that he was, even down to his sneer at Pansy.

"Oh, go home and complain to Dean, why don't you?!" Pansy snapped back at him.

Blaise smiled a secret smile and said arrogantly, "Well, I know that my Gryffindor has absolutely no complaints."

Draco walked into the room and flopped on the sofa next to Blaise. They both turned to him.

"Did you just stick your tongue out at Blaise, Pansy?" Draco asked interested. Their flaming rows had always shaken the Slytherin common room during their time at school.

"Whatever Draco, are you here to help me or to piss me off?"

She looked angry, but he knew her, it was mostly an act. She was standing in front of them, tapping her foot and arms crossed.

Blaise leaned over to him and pretended to whisper, "Hmm, she does seems rather upset, doesn't she?" He turned and gave Pansy a lavish smile. Those two were cat and dog sometimes, but most of the time they were each other's closest confidants. The tapping of the foot continued, and she glowered at them.

"Okay okay, what do you need Pans, what can I help you with?"

"I need you to choose a scheme, it's a Winter Charity Ball, but what should the theme be for the decorations? Your mother said she'd leave that up to you."

"How about blue and silver?" Blaise suggested.

She shook her head. "I still need a theme for the decorations and I've used most of the usual ones on the other balls and parties I've planned, but I like the colours though." She seemed somewhat mollified.

"How about calling it 'Ice fantasy' or 'Winterland' or something like that? Then you can still use those colours, but it's not limited to just those exact colours. And you can use silver, we all know how you love silver."

"Hmm, not bad Drake, I'll figure something out. By the way, why weren't you able to help out yesterday?" Pansy asked. "The only thing you ever do is work, you should be able to postpone that for your mother's ball."

"I was on a date yesterday." He answered evenly, ignoring Blaise's curious spluttering next to him.

"So, no work. With Astoria?" Pansy's voice was dripping with disgust. She certainly wasn't Astoria's biggest fan.

"No, not Astoria. I've decided to take a leaf out of Blaise's book and go for a Gryffindor." He decided to ignore both Pansy and Blaise's intense gaze and smiled happily at them, because he was happy. Yesterday had been completely perfect.

Blaise started laughing. "Merlin Drake, I hope it's not someone you bullied back then."

Draco's smile fell and he gave him a sharp look, and Blaise paused for only a second, stared at him intently and then fell back laughing hysterically at him. He scowled right back.


	12. Chapter 12

Beside him Blaise was laughing and laughing, but Pansy's eyes narrowed at him. "A Gryffindor? Whom?"

He pushed Blaise to make him stop laughing, which had the complete opposite effect. It was decidedly irksome. Pansy was waiting impatiently for an answer. She was never good at waiting for anything, which made her a very effective party planner, but also a somewhat annoying friend at times.

He took a deep breath, slightly apprehensive of their reaction, though it wouldn't change anything regarding his feelings for Hermione. "Hermione Granger."

Blaise stopped laughing immediately and Pansy's mouth opened with a pop. The silence stretched until Blaise stopped staring at him and literally fell to the floor laughing.

Pansy opened her mouth, no doubt to ask a million questions but Draco beat her to it.

"Stop it Pansy, there's not much to ask, I met her randomly in Diagon Alley, we've been on a couple of dates and… I like her." His hesitation had nothing to do with Hermione, but in general he didn't like feeling vulnerable in front of anyone, even his friends. It was a Slytherin thing.

"Well… Congrats I guess?" Pansy seemed unsure about how to react to the news.

Blaise were slowly coming back from his laughing fit on the floor.

"Why is this so funny to you? You're dating a Gryffindor as well you know." He couldn't keep the annoyance from his voice.

Blaise wiped his eyes, pulled himself together and stood up. "Come on Drake!" He said exasperated, "You tormented her in school, you hated every single thing she stood for, along with the fact that she bested you in almost every subject." He held up both hands in a sign of defeat and a smirk on his face. "I know, I know, you don't think like that anymore, but you can't not appreciate the irony, it's freaking hilarious."

Even Pansy cracked a small smile.

"But…" Blaise continued, "If you like her and she's giving you the time of day despite your former frosty relationship at school, then I'm happy for you mate."

The three Slytherins smiled at one another, but suddenly Pansy's face went pensive and then elated in the space of a single second.

"FROST!"

"What?" Both men turned to Pansy, looking bewildered.

"The scheme, theme or whatever should be Frost, and I have the best ideas! It's going to be fabulous! But I need to hurry… Sorry guys, I gotta go. Love yous!" She waved her hands around and yelled on her way out the door.

Blaise started chuckling softly. "I'm clearly surrounded by crazy people… Oh well, I wouldn't want it any other way. What's the fun in that, huh?"

"By the way, I'm going to need you to give me an invite especially for Hermione."

"Don't you worry, you'll have it by morning."

They spent most of the day catching up, and Draco was again astounded by his mother's plans for the ball, it seemed like much too much but clearly, she wanted the reestablishment of the Malfoy ball to be the best and most sought-after event of the year, if not the past five to ten years.

* * *

Every week they met in the small café in Diagon Alley and shared a single piece of carrot cake with their coffees. It was pretty much placed halfway between his offices and the Ministry. Hermione loved how comfortable they both were in each other's company. As most of their coffee dates were in public for convenience, and in the wizarding world, they were making quite a stir. Rita Skeeter had written couple of articles about them, dredging up their past relations at Hogwarts. Hermione had scoffed at the article and sent it along with a short note to Draco that same day, but she'd kept the picture. Somehow that foul woman managed to capture a picture of them sneaking a kiss in the back of the café. It was annoying that they were following them that closely, but she couldn't help but smile at the picture in which they were snuggled up together. In the picture, Draco took a bite of the cake and handed a second bite to her, a bit of the frosting was left on her upper lip so he kissed it off.

She received a short note back with her owl, and she couldn't help but smile widely.

_You've kept the picture too, huh?_

_Draco_

Despite some of the less flattering articles about her, Draco and their relationship past and present, she was happy. All of the press made her slightly nauseous and annoyed. Why was it everybody's business where they went for coffee or what she wore to work? It really was baffling to her and rather unnecessary in her mind, but she'd felt that way for years now. She had been the Golden Girl for so long that people didn't really care all that much anymore about every single detail of her life, but now that she and Draco were together, somehow it was front page news.

Draco was very nonchalant about it all, he'd had so much both good and bad press since the war that he didn't seem to care at all. Even the intimate kissing pictures they'd covertly captured of them didn't bother him even though they were splashed everywhere, he just cut them all out to keep and rolled his eyes about the articles every time they talked about it, it was kind of cute really. Well, she found it very cute, but that might have something to do with the fact that she really really liked him. She might even like him more than that.

* * *

Astoria was absolutely livid! She was pacing her flat with a crumpled up Daily Prophet in her hand, sending hexes at everything around her, her silken blond hair flying behind her.

Her muggle live-in trainer was cowering behind the sofa, yelling at her to stop over and over. He was very confused about the all of the stuff blowing up, catching fire and disappearing. To his knowledge she was just a bird he'd met at his gym a couple of months ago, so what on earth was she doing to his expensive centrally placed flat?

But she was seeing red, how dare he?! If he thought he could get away with it, Draco Malfoy had another thing coming, that was for sure. And she knew exactly the best way to get even with him, embarrassing him publicly was just the thing, he was such a stick, and his mother's ball was just the place to do it.

Now… How best to go about it?

He thought she had cooled off now, so he ventured a question. "Astoria, baby, what's going on?"

She swirled around and glared at him. "You!" She pointed a dark red perfectly manicured finger at him. Then her posture changed and she sent him a heated look. "Come here." She practically purred at him.

He approached her looking quite apprehensive. He moods could shift like the wind.

She placed a hand on his impressive stomach and stood up on her toes, as if to kiss him with a small mirthless smirk playing around on her lips. He smiled at her in relief, oblivious as to what she was doing.

She raised the hand she'd kept beside her carrying her wand. "Obliviate."


	13. Shopping

About a week before the now very famous and highly anticipated Malfoy Winter ball, thanks to Blaise's promotions and many invitations, Ginny, Luna and Hermione was going dress shopping, something that Hermione wasn't really looking that much forward to. She knew she needed a new dress, but she really didn't feel like the marathon of shopping excursions she knew she'd be going through today. They'd all decided to go for muggle dresses, as they really were more comfortable than dress robes.

After what felt like hours and hours of shopping through the streets of London, Hermione was about ready to quit. It was raining quite heavily and glaring up at the sky, she saw no signs of the weather relenting any time soon. She was exhausted and Ginny just would not take no for an answer, she ploughed on and on. Ginny dragged her and Luna into store after store, but she really needed sustenance, she was _not_ built for shopping like this. And of course, Ginny and Luna had found their dresses within the first three shops, so they had ample opportunity to focus completely on her. G _reat_. She started making her case for food and something to drink and to her welcome surprise they agreed readily.

They had lunch in Diagon Alley, Ginny was incredibly annoyed at not being able to use magic in muggle London, so she insisted on eating at what she determined as a 'normal' place. Ginny was very kind to muggles in general, but having grown up in an entirely magical environment at the Burrow, and since she turned seventeen, she just wasn't used to be restricted in her magic at all. Hermione got them to agree to eat at her favourite café instead of the Leaky Cauldron, because a salad, a coffee and a piece of cake for dessert was just what she needed. Until she saw that they were out of carrot cake. She had to settle for chocolate cake, it was still good but not her favourite. It just wasn't her kind of day, clearly.

They went back out into muggle London and started shopping again and the going was slow, it was still raining and it was dark, even though it was only early afternoon it almost seemed like evening. At least she'd thought ahead this time, and had a bottle of water with her, this could easily take the rest of the day. She was not used to having her friends' attention so solely on her and she had to try dress after dress with their running commentary as she meandered in and out of the fitting rooms of various stores.

Finally, on a small side street Hermione saw a small shop with beautiful dresses in the window. Light, airy dresses that she could see herself in. It was a designer's shop, the owner was making all of the clothes herself. They went inside and for once it wasn't just Ginny and Luna throwing dresses at her to try, she spent a long time looking around and she even found one herself. It was in the very back of a long rack of dresses that the designer had directed her towards, she couldn't see if it would look good on her on the hanger, but she really wanted to try it on.

When she emerged from the dressing room in that dress, Luna gasped and Ginny's smirk could rival Draco's.

"It's breath taking on you." Luna said quietly, still holding her hand in front of her mouth.

"It's definitely the one." Ginny agreed, that smirk still grazing her lips.

She looked at herself in the mirror and she did not anticipate what was looking back at her. Usually she didn't think all that highly of herself, but this dress complimented her body and colours just right. Her day was looking up.

It was absolutely perfect.

"No, I do not need new dress robes Mother. Please let me be. I will accompany you to get you another dress, but let's just keep the focus on you."

He was exasperated with his mother's attempts to 'jazz him up' as she called it. He was perfectly happy with his simple classic dress robes, he had absolutely no intention of looking like a peacock, he left that to Blaise and, for that matter, he was certain that his Italian friend would do it much better than him.

"Oh Draco darling, you are just such a bore, I know you have dress robes, but couldn't I at least convince you to get a new tie or something? You really need something new."

"No, I don't."

They were sitting in the dining room of the manor just finishing a sumptuous lunch. The dining room was a large, airy and light room recently decorated in beige tones. His mother insisted that she had chosen warm tones and that they had attributes he evidently was too blind to see, but to him they were all just various versions of beige. He really didn't care for that colour if he was honest, but it did fit nicely with the rich mahogany of their dinner table and chairs.

The floo roared into life and Pansy stepped out wearing a tight black bodycon dress and heels. She gave him a pointed look and a brief smirk and then turned to his mother.

"Hello Narcissa, can I talk to you about a few things regarding the ball? It's only a couple of details."

His mother nodded and they proceeded to discuss the ball in excruciating minute details, taking their sweet time to deliberate on everything from the napkins with the hors d'eouvres, _should they be plain white or should they be charmed change colour,_ to the colour and size of the ice crystals floating around the room, _should they look like diamonds or like snow crystals_. Only a couple of details? _Please._ That conversation could, and probably would take hours.

He chose to ignore the two chattering women and instead focused on his date for the ball, his amazing witch. She had lightened him since they started dating. He could only see it now, from a distance, that he had been blaming himself for a lot of things and her light-hearted outlook on life had helped him to reconcile himself to a lot of the horrors he had witnessed and even partaken in. Something about her was just the breath of fresh air that he needed, and now he knew that he needed her in his life. It was very strange to have realized that his future depended on the witch he had tormented in school, though it was comforting to know that she had forgiven him for it, knowing that he had been raised by his father to act just like that towards muggleborns.

He was pulled out of his reverie when his mother's voice cut across his thoughts.

"Draco, are you listening to me?"

"No, but I am now." She looked at him a bit annoyed with Pansy sitting next to her, but then her features changed to a subtle smile.

"Well, I was going to tell you, since you are bringing a date to the ball, then so am I."

"You're what?!"


	14. Double standards

"A date, Draco. Please do keep up darling." His mother said in her most haughty voice, but a very familiar smirk was playing around on her lips. She clearly enjoyed his dumbstruck look of shock.

He gaped at her, he didn't know that she was serious about any of the wizards she had seen, but taking someone to a ball that she hosted was tantamount to declaring her undying affection for all the world to see. He didn't realize, or didn't want to examine that that was exactly why he was taking Hermione to the ball, he wanted to show the world that she was his. But his mother wasn't anybody's at all and certainly not some random date's. With regards to his mother, he definitely believed that double standards were necessary. Yes. Most definitely.

"Mother. You cannot be serious."

"I most certainly am, why would you think I would joke regarding such a subject?" She looked the picture of innocence, but he could see the mirth in her eyes.

"Who is it?"

"Now don't overreact darling, I really would quite like to keep him around. Otherwise I would have never wanted to tell you about him."

"Who?" He had no patience for her games.

"Garret Ollivander." She looked almost apprehensive, but she hid it very well.

He paled. "The old wandmaker?" He was absolutely astounded that his mother was interested in that very old and frail wizard, who had also been imprisoned in the Manor dungeons. More to the point, why was he interested in her, considering their rather checkered shared history.

"No, he is named Garrick, Garret is his son. He is being groomed to take over the wand making business, and I have to say, he is quite clever, and a very charming man." A small, but warm smile grazed her lips.

"And he has no objections to you playing host to his father for some time during the war?"

"Oh darling, he knows that wasn't me, I've explained it all to him." Her smile was still in place. Evidently neither he nor she was perturbed with the fact that his father had spent months at the Malfoy Manor dungeons being questioned by the Dark Lord during the war.

"Are you in love with him?" He winced as he asked the question. He was very uncertain if he really wanted or needed the answer to that question.

"No, I am not. But I like him very much, and I have only known the man for less than month, so who knows?"

His mother had never been one to sugar-coat the truth, a trait he appreciated and strived to emulate himself, and she apparently wasn't going to start now. Though he would have liked to get this information without Pansy sitting beside his mother looking very much like she enjoyed the conversation way too much for his liking. Her smile only seemed increase his annoyance.

His mother's flow of words did not abate however. "It was actually you that inspired me. As you may know, Ollivanders are one of the benefactors of the Charity ball and Garret asked me on a date many times over and I had always refused, but seeing you so happy changed my initial decision, and I'm all the happier for it."

"In that case, I'm happy for you mother. But please try to keep the PDA around me to a minimum, will you?"

"PDA? What is that? Is that a young terminology for something?" She looked confused and a bit wary of what he was asking.

He wasn't sure how he felt about this, but he knew she needed him to support her. Otherwise she wouldn't have told him about her date. "Public display of affection. I'll still need to adjust to it, if it becomes serious between you." He grimaced at the last sentence.

"Alright darling, whatever you wish." She smiled benevolently at him and returned to her conversation with Pansy, effectively dismissing him.

Seeing as how Hermione had initially shocked Ginny with her revelation that she was dating Draco a few weeks back, she thought it absolutely necessary to let Ron know about as well before she showed up as Draco's date to the ball. Harry had been a huge help in getting Ginny to maybe not accept how Hermione felt their former enemy, but to at least agree that maybe it wasn't up to her to dictate how Hermione was supposed to feel about him. From Ginny, that was as good as an apology for her behaviour and Hermione had accepted it gladly.

Like Ginny, Ron had no right to feel anything about anyone she dated, but she needed to ensure that he wouldn't cause a scene at the ball. Ron was with Lavender now and he was happy, but for some reason he had always been unduly protective of her, even in school. But back then he'd had the reason that he had been in love with her. Now it was annoying, not only to her but also to Lavender, who was easily jealous. Ron and Lavender had been on vacation and to avoid him seeing it in the press she was seeing him mere hours after his portkey arrived. She fervently believed in timely care, and this would give Ron a bit of time to get used to the idea of her dating Draco before seeing them together in public for himself. Even though they weren't together anymore, their friendship still meant so much to her, and she needed him to accept her and Draco. Though she did know that it was going to be very difficult to say the least.

Draco had even warned her about his reaction, even going as far as to suggest that she just use the confundus charm on him to save herself the trouble. She had smacked his arm for that comment. But he was right about one thing. It would be much easier than facing him now.

She had reasoned that a buffer was needed in this conversation and that buffer was to be Harry. He was always good at these things. Meaning that he was usually good at mediating between them.

Whether he liked it or not.


	15. Differences

She had arranged a lunch for the three of them in her flat, she thought this conversation was best kept in private and she was fidgety and nervous before they arrived pacing the same line in her lounge over and over. Just as she turned away from her fireplace for the umpteenth time, the floo roared to life with green flames and Harry stepped out, followed by Ron.

They both brushed off the soot and embraced her, Ron more enthusiastically than Harry, it would seem as though Harry had an inkling as why he was there and he looked at her questioningly when she put on a happy face and, instead of showing exactly why she was a brave Gryffindor, she opted of avoid the subject of both the ball and her date while asking Ron as many questions about his vacation as she could think of. Only an hour and a half later, well into the treacle tart she had made them, Ron turned the spotlight back on her.

"Well, enough about me then, how are you 'Mione?"

She felt like a deer caught in headlights. It was the reason she had invited them, but contemplating telling him and actually telling him seemed like two different worlds now. She looked at her two best friends in the world, and felt a knot in her stomach and a blush stealing up her cheeks, so she took a deep breath.

"I'm doing good." She exhaled and smiled, trying to calm her erratic heartbeat. "Really good actually." Why oh why did she feel so nervous?

"Excellent, that's great news! I'm happy for you." He grinned at her and took a huge bite of tart, clearly not noticing her nervousness.

Harry then decided to take point. He knew very well why they were all there, and Hermione was not fessing up as she should. He was tired of this beating around the bush. Ron would throw a tantrum at the ball if this was sprung on him. "Hermione. Don't you want to tell Ron why you're doing so good?" He gave her a very pointed look and then looked to Ron who seemed completely oblivious to anything but the now third piece of tart on his plate.

Ron looked up, chewing away with a blissful and slightly dazed look on his face. "Huh?"

She made a face and mouthed 'Alright' to him and turned to Ron. "Ron, have you been getting any newspapers or magazines on your vacation?"

"Nope. Not one. It was brilliant, I'm telling you-"

She cut him off, she needed to get this over with while she could. "The reason I'm asking, is that I've been featured in them rather often lately."

"Well, that's not news." He frowned. "All of us are in them a lot." Now, finally, his focus had been moved from the empty plate in front of him to her.

"Yes, well, I'm being featured more than usually because of this wizard I'm seeing." She trailed off, her earlier doubts if telling him was a good idea were resurfacing.

"Well then, who are you seeing?"

She held her breath. "Draco Malfoy."

He looked puzzled. "What?" Then his face changed to amusement. "Hah, I just thought you said you were seeing Malfoy."

"I am. Draco is the one I'm seeing."

He frowned. "No you're not. This is a joke, right?" His face had changed to bewilderment. He looked to Harry for confirmation, but his mouth was set in a grim line.

He turned back to Hermione who was avoiding his gaze. Honestly, where had her Gryffindor courage got to? "Ron, this is not a joke. I am seeing Draco, I like him. A lot. He makes me happy."

"Not _him_." He snorted with derision. "He's a right git 'Mione, you can't be serious."

"I am serious. Have you even spoken to him once since school?" She squared her shoulders, he did not have a say in this, he was only being informed. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know about us. And he is my date to the Charity Ball so I want you to behave when you see him, both of you."

"I don't want to be nice to _him_!" Ron protested loudly and Harry wisely kept quiet throughout the exchange. Ron's face was turning red, his ears were turning positively crimson, not a good sign usually.

"You're nice enough to Zabini, Nott, Parkinson and other Slytherins when we cross paths with them, why is Draco any different?"

"Because he just is! I mean, it's Malfoy for crying out loud! He made all of our lives at school living hell!"

"They were all equally awful in school, but according to you only Draco should be treated badly. You know what Ron? If that's how you feel, then I want you to leave right now. This bigotry is not what we fought for in the war." She was fighting hard to keep her temper in check.

"No, we fought him because he's a Death Eater."

"You know as well as I do that he was forced into it. He didn't complete his assignment and when it came down to it, he didn't fight against us. Now you're the prejudiced one Ron."

"It's _different_." He spluttered angrily. "You're obviously missing the whole point."

"No, it's not different, you know it isn't. He deserves a chance at least. If you don't like him once you get to know him, then fine. But until then I don't want to hear another word against him." She struggled to keep her composure, her instinct regarding Ron had always been to yell at him with all of her might.

He grumbled, but seemingly agreed.

"Why are you so against this anyway? You're with Lavender, why do you care who I date as long as I'm happy?"

"I just do, alright?" He slumped in his chair looking mulish.

"And that's our cue to leave. Let's go Ron." Harry stood up briskly, trying with all his might to get away from this conversation, he didn't like it when his two best friends fought like this. Those times they hadn't spoken at school had been nightmarish.

She knitted her brows at her two best friends in the world. They had been through hell and back together so surely her dating Draco shouldn't even make a dent in their friendship.

Ron stood but looked straight at her with a sad look in his eyes. "He's going to hurt you 'Mione. I just know it. It's just something he would do."

"No, you don't know that. You're basing your judgement on him from his behaviour when we were children, and he's changed, we all have. He's not that child anymore."

Ron turned to Harry then, looking aghast. "Wait. You already knew about this, and you're okay with it? Why aren't you yelling at her with me?!"

Harry had deliberately stayed on the edge of the fight, but Ron had dragged him right into the centre of it. He sighed and ran both hands through his always chaotic hair. "Look Ron, I haven't got a problem with 'Mione dating Malfoy. I don't know him well, but he's not that bad and besides, 'Mione is happy. Shouldn't that be the most important thing?"

"No! He's only dating her for a laugh, he's gonna hurt her and we have to pick up the pieces afterwards, you know how it is with 'Mione! She always believes the best of everyone!" At this point, Ron had completely forgotten not only that he was in Hermione's flat, but that he was standing no more than a couple of feet away from her.

She lost her hold on her temper right then and there. She stood up quickly and put both hands flat on the table with a loud slap. "Ronald Weasley!" He cringed visibly and Harry looked warily at the two of them, something like this had happened way too many times for his liking. "Do you really believe me to be so incapable of impartial judgement with regards to Draco's character, that I would be fooled if he was only seeing me _for a laugh_?! I have been seeing him for months Ron! I do want to believe the best of everyone, especially right now, when I want to believe that you have an astonishingly good reason as to why you seem to think me so thick!"

Harry moved in between them as fast as he could. "Stop it, both of you!" He stared daggers at Ron. The redhead had never learned to control his temper, especially when it concerned 'Mione.

"Get out! I want you out right now!" She practically screamed with frustration, blinking back tears. Why she'd ever thought that Ron would understand and support her relationship was beyond her.

Ron seemed beyond words, red-faced, spluttering and angry and Harry dragged him forcibly to the fireplace and looked back at Hermione. "We'll talk when he's calmed down. When you've both calmed down. I'll see you soon." He attempted a half smile to cheer her up. He called out Grimauld Place, took Ron with him and they were gone.

She was about to sink to the floor crying when she realised she didn't want to be alone now. She grabbed her bag and flooed to Draco. He was sitting in his lounge reading, sheets spread out across the sofa and coffee table amongst a few cold cups of tea and coffee. He looked up, took one look at her now tear-stained face and opened his arms to her. She rushed to him and he cradled her while kissing the top of her head and rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"So, I take it you didn't use the confundus charm then?"

She shook her head and smacked his arm weakly, but despite herself, she chuckled softly at his bad joke. She leaned closer into him, sniffled and took a deep breath, just being close to him helped.

"Shush and hold me please." She said rather bossily.

"Yes ma'am." She could almost feel his smirk as he tightened his arms around her.


	16. I told you so

She had been camping out at Draco's flat for a few days now, not wanting to go home. She knew very well that she was being a massive coward but she had more than one reason that she didn't want to leave. He had been with her to her flat to pick up Crookshanks and a few clothes and other items so technically she didn't have any sort of need to go back.

First, this was a very happy arrangement for her. His flat was large, light and beautifully decorated and he had chivalrously insisted that she sleep in his bed and he slept on the sofa. His bed was so very comfortable, soft pillow and light coverlet with an almost hard mattress, she had never felt so well rested in her life.

Second, it was a lot closer to work than her own flat. She could walk there in five minutes, and he almost lived above the café, they both found that the carrot cake still tasted amazing if you had it every day. That was her excuse anyway, but she also knew that Ron and Harry didn't know where Draco lived, so it was sort of a safe haven where she didn't have to deal with the outcome of their fight the other day.

Third, she saw him every day. That was without a doubt her favourite part and the main reason that she didn't want to stop staying there. They had built up a routine, coffee and kisses in the morning, work, they made dinner together and then cake, tea and kisses on the sofa.

She loved it, the simplicity of it, if felt effortless to her to spend so much time together, natural even. Crooks had needed to be stopped in a few attempts at making the stark designer leather furniture more comfortable with his claws, but other than that they hadn't encountered a single issue with this arrangement. Draco and Crooks had even developed a mutual sort of affection where Crooks cuddled up to Draco every day after work, when they were waiting for Hermione to get back. Her heart stuttered every time she saw that, it was completely adorable. Crooks had accepted Draco completely and it was a bit unnerving, he'd never fully accepted Ron, Harry, Ginny or any of her other friends, though he did tolerate their affections.

* * *

"Ron, why are you pacing? You've known for years that 'Mione has been dating, why is this so hard for you to grasp?"

They were in the kitchen of Grimauld Place the day after Ron's fight with Hermione. Ron had insisted that he come over now though it was ten in the evening and they both had work in the morning. He'd gotten some sort of mumbled explanation that George had sent him. Harry sat calmly on a chair at their kitchen table looking at Ron who was pacing back and forth in front of the stove.

"I don't know alright?" He stopped pacing, ran both hands through his hair several times and exhaled loudly. "I guess I've just always seen her as some sort of backup, you know? In case me and Lavender don't work out." He shrugged.

"Are you kidding me?" Harry frowned at his best friend.

"Why would I do that?"

Harry stood quickly and smacked Ron hard on the back of his head. "You broke up! So maybe she hasn't had a relationship in a few years, but that doesn't mean that she's pining just for you!"

"Ow!" He rubbed the back of his skull. "Yeah, alright, I sorta see that now. "Lavender showed me the Daily Prophet from the time we've been away, there has been articles about them almost every day, pictures and everything." He shuddered slightly, seeing those kissing pictures had been surprising, she usually wasn't all that interested in showing off in public, but the pictures did look like they had been taken in secret. "'Mione is actually serious about him, isn't she?"

"I think so. And she's so happy with him. You should see the way she lights up when she speaks of him."

"I guess I have to talk to her then." He sighed defeated.

"Yeah, you do. And don't let your temper steer the conversation Ron. Plus, you're actually happy with Lavender, why not just focus on all the positives?"

"I know, alright. I'll do it soon, before the weekend. We're actually starting to act like adults, huh?"

"Well, you're getting there and I do have a wife and kids and everything." Harry grinned at his mate.

* * *

The ball was moving steadily closer, now only being a couple of days away. On her way back to Draco's flat from work, she saw George carrying a large pile of precariously balanced items for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, she rushed over to help him, a good thing as she levitated the five boxes that had started to fall to the ground. He looked up and smiled. "'Mione! Excellent! I have a bone to pick with you, come on in." And he lead the way into the shop and back towards his office.

She didn't like the fact that he might be mad at her because of her fight with Ron, but really, what was she supposed to do, at least she'd told him face to face instead of letting him find out from the press.

As soon as he divested himself of the load he was carrying, he turned to her. "Cuppa?"

"Uhm, sure." She waited a minute or two while he rummaged cheerily around the small kitchen. "I thought you were mad at me?"

"Mad at you? For what? Sticking it to Ron? You must be joking, he deserves to realize that you aren't waiting for him anymore." He handed her the cup of steaming hot tea.

"Waiting for him? I haven't been waiting for him at all." This conversation had just taken a very unexpected turn.

"I know that, he just didn't. That's why he got so upset with you."

"That is ridiculous, I love him but he's my friend, nothing more. We're too different."

"Well, as far as I could tell when I saw him yesterday, he was slowly realizing that as well. For some odd reason he has been happy that you were single, because then you two could always get back together if it didn't work out with Lavender."

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. We broke up for a reason, we weren't compatible at all."

"I know that, you know that and now he's finally realized that, thank Merlin. I was sick of hearing about his frustration on Monday, he can be a right git when he's agitated about something, so I sent him to Harry's He just needed a calm voice of reason, and since it's usually you, I sent him to Harry." He grinned, he obviously thought that his brother's reaction was way over the top, which it certainly was.

"But wait, why did you have a bone to pick with me anyway?"

"Oh, right." He looked like he steeled himself for something, then his face spread into a wide grin. "I told you so."

"I told you so?"

"You better believe I did. Are you or are you not currently in a relationship with Draco Malfoy?"

She remembered then, when Ginny and Harry had found out, George had been there as well whishing her many happy returns.

"Oh George! You frightened me!" She smacked him lightly on the arm while stomping her foot. He merely grinned back at her and they enjoyed an hour of talking and laughing.

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?" The blonde was fingering a small metal box with something squelching around inside.

"Yes Tori, don't worry, I've used this a couple of times myself. You just have the small box in your bag and when you see the person who needs this, you just take it out and fling it at them. It's a horrid concoction of normal foods, but it really works." The smugness in her older sister's face was all the encouragement she needed and she bagged the box.

"Thanks, I'll see you Saturday. It's going to be a heck of a party." They both smirked at each other and Astoria stood up, kissed her sister's cheek and left the flat. She could always count on Daphne to know what to do in these situations.


	17. Agreement

Draco knew he was enjoying Hermione's company at his flat way too much. Well, way too much considering she had her own flat and was supposed to go back to it soon. He'd even developed some kind of rapport with the squashy faced pet of hers. He liked having them both around and he was seriously wondering if they ought to make it a permanent solution, plus he'd like to sleep in his own bed again and preferably with her next to him.

He was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the Prophet. It was early morning, Hermione was in the shower and Crookshanks was licking his paws in a ray of sunshine on the kitchen floor. It felt right and he didn't want to see them leave his flat if he could help it. He wondered if Hermione would even consider staying.

A few minutes later she walked in the kitchen perfectly groomed, humming happily and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

"Good morning." She smiled and kissed him again.

"Good morning yourself." A third kiss. He relished this. The everyday with her right here with him where she ought to be.

"I have something for you. I found it when I was packing in my flat the other day. I just forgot to give it to you before now. Sorry." She held out a package that mysteriously resembled a book.

"What's the occasion?" He took it and started unwrapping it.

"No particular occasion, just my way of thanking you for letting me stay here when I didn't want to be alone." She was feigning disinterest in his reaction.

It was a book. A particular book in fact, it was Much Ado About Nothing. The play they were supposed to have seen on their second date. It was leather bound and had that new book smell that he liked so much. He looked up, she was almost bursting with excitement, clearly wanting to know what he thought of the book.

He looked up and smiled. "I love it, thank you." And he scooped her up into his arms lifting her off the floor and kissed her. She had thrown her arms around his neck and was laughing almost hysterically now as he kissed every bit of her face that he could reach.

"Draco!"

She was still laughing, so he stopped briefly and arched his brow at her. "Yes Hermione?"

"Stop it, we have to go to work!" She tried to keep a straight face, to appear serious but he was making it very difficult because he had resumed the kissing. After a more pleading and a lengthy snog, she disentangled herself and he set her back on her feet.

"Alright then, but thank you. I can't wait to read the play."

* * *

Thursday evening she and Draco were cuddled up on the sofa reading when an owl started pecking at the window. She got up, opened the window and the owl swooped in and settled on the coffee table holding out it's leg to her.

As she unrolled the parchment, she gulped. She would recognize Ron's untidy scrawl anywhere.

_Dear Mione._

_We need to talk, please meet me. You just say where and when and I'll be there._

_Love, Ron_

He was reading the letter over her shoulder. "Love?" He raised a single eyebrow and sarcasm was dripping from his voice.

"It's just an expression, he's with Lavender and I'm with you." She shrugged completely unperturbed and pulled out a piece of parchment to reply. Beside her Draco huffed annoyed and muttered something under his breath about red-headed gits, but got up and gave the owl a few treats while it waited for her reply.

* * *

Friday afternoon she was meeting Ron in a public setting, her favourite café close to Draco's flat. That meant she could have a quick escape if needed. She ordered her usual coffee with milk and sugar accompanied by a piece of carrot cake and sat at a table along the wall and waited for him to show up. Of course he arrived ten minutes late, typical of him. He ordered as well, gave her an awkward smile that almost looked like a grimace and sat down.

"Hi 'Mione."

"Hey Ron."

The silence after that was stretching into minutes. She was determined that he would be the one to start talking. He had some apologizing to do. After his order arrived and he had taken a sip from the opulent hot butterbeer with whipped cream and marshmallows accompanied by a piece of triple chocolate brownie, he finally started talking.

"Listen, I… I'm sorry alright. I got caught up in the moment and you know how I get, I'm stupid like that." She raised a very Malfoy-ish eyebrow at him, he was startled at the small quirk she had adapted from him already. "I know you spoke with George. I don't see you as a backup, it's just… I don't know, it just seemed like a natural thing to me that if we both were single at some point then we'd get back together. It would be easy and familiar and homey, you know?" He trailed off, waiting for her to reply.

She frowned. "Look Ron. I love you, you're one of my best friends and you're also my ex and my first love. You will always have a special place in my heart but you and I aren't meant to be together. Familiar and homey describes life at the Burrow, not the love of your life."

"I get it, yeah, I get it now. Are you happy with him though?"

"Yes, I am very happy Ron." The twinkle in her eyes told him all he needed to know. "And I hope you're happy with Lavender?"

"I am, she's great. She showed me some of the articles about you. They have really been hounding you, haven't they?"

"Oh yes, but we've decided that we won't let the press restrict where we go anymore. But they ask a lot about what you think about us." She bit her lower lip like she always did when she was nervous. "They'll probably ask you about us on Saturday at the ball."

"Don't worry 'Mione, you have my full support if he makes you happy, and if he turns out to be a scheming cockroach then you have my full support to hex him all the way to Siberia." He grinned at her.

"Thank you, Ron." She smiled back at him, loving the feeling that their relationship was slowly returning to being best friends again.

"So, are you still staying at his place?"

She turned to him and started laughing. The whipped cream from his drink was smeared all over his face, and some had even made it to his ear. He had obviously tried to wipe his face but failed miserably. "Uhm Ron, you have something… Right there." She pointed with her entire hand to most of his face.

"What?" He wiped his mouth but it still covered his face.

"That was so the wrong drink for you, you know. The cream is all over your face." She was still chuckling, but took out her hand and cast a scurgify on him. "There, all better now."

"Thanks 'Mione. You're the best." He cleared his throat. "So, you and Malfoy?"

"Yeah, I know. Sometimes, when I think about our time at school, it still boggles my mind but then he does something wonderful and it doesn't even matter. But yes, I'm still staying with him."

"Is it something you want to make permanent?"

She thought about it. She loved being around him every day, it felt so right. "Maybe… I think so."

"Then I think you should tell him. Wouldn't it make you both happy?"

She smiled. "Yes, I think it would. Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. But if you could just get him to admit that he deeply loves me and Harry, then I'd be thrilled." He winked and grinned at her.

She almost choked on the delicious piece of cake in her mouth. "Ha ha, don't count on it."


	18. Preparations

"Oh joy, so now that you're back to being the best of friends, we have to socialize with him? And Potter too?" He was incredulous, this was what his life had turned into. Having to assimilate to his childhood enemies.

It was the evening before the ball and she was sitting on the floor, calmly taking notes for her work on Monday when she just smiled up at him. "You do realize who you're dating right? It's not like you'd be able to avoid them."

"I know, but I did have a small inkling of hope." His tone was very petulant.

"That's just too bad because since you're stuck with me, you're also stuck with them." She shrugged and gave him a sugary smile.

"Hmm, does that mean that I'm permanently stuck with you?"

"Well…-" Her smile faltered and she blushed scarlet, maybe that had been the wrong choice of words. Well, she thought, here goes nothing. "-If you want to, I mean, I really like you and… I want you to be stuck with me."

His reaction wasn't what she expected. In fact, the very uncharacteristic unbridled joy on face said it all. "Yes! Yes of course I want to be stuck with you, you silly witch. How could you think anything else?" He snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her up into his lap.

Mid-snog, they heard a whoosh and someone clearing their throat while brushing soot of their robes. "Well excuse you for throwing that into my face on this fine evening."

"You came to my place Pans, what do you want?" His eyes and arms hadn't let go of the beautiful witch in his lap.

"Help, I need help. The ball is tomorrow and there's a million things I need to get done before the end of today."

He looked at Hermione. "Fancy a trip to the Manor?"

Her face fell, she didn't really want to go there but the ball was tomorrow and it was being held at the Manor so for all intents and purposes she couldn't avoid it. But she had steeled herself for tomorrow, not today, not now.

He understood immediately. "Don't worry, you won't be able to recognize the place, my mother has painted everything _beige_. Even the face of the Manor has been refurbished. And the room you were in has been magically altered. You wouldn't even know it if you were in there again." He touched her nose with his. "Please. Then it won't be a shock tomorrow."

He really did make a very valid case so she merely nodded.

"Thank you." And he kissed her again so softly and so filled with affection that she almost got lost in it. Until they were interrupted. Again.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, can we get moving? I didn't say a million things for nothing you know." Pansy was tapping her foot impatiently next to the fireplace.

"Hang on to your knickers Pans, you did just interrupt us."

"Whatever Drake." She huffed.

They stood, ready to go when Draco paused briefly in front of the fireplace. "Hermione, this is Pansy, my very annoying friend." He gave her a pointed look that she ignored completely. "And Pans, this is Hermione, my girlfriend."

They both hesitated a moment before Pansy put out her hand. "Nice to meet you officially."

"Likewise." Hermione said with a small smile and shook her hand.

Pansy had a shocked look on her face for a moment before she schooled her features. "Right, let's get cracking then. You first, so I know you won't just stay here and snog."

Draco smirked at her and took Hermione through the floo to Malfoy Manor.

* * *

Narcissa was rushing through the Manor giving hurried instructions to anyone close to her. This ball was important. This was the reestablishment in society for the Malfoy's and most of what was left of the Sacred Twenty-eight families. The ball was strictly for charity, all expenses regarding the ball was being paid by the families and the Ministry. A large auction was planned and the donations had come in from many of the old families as well as new ones. Some merely chose to donate galleons directly, but many had donated items for auction. There were magical objects as well as muggle and they were all spectacular. Some magical objects she didn't quite understand, like the bright red circular weather-and-creature-forecasting helmet with a great many buttons and dials that was donated by the Lovegoods or the garish gold and purple prank detector from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but she knew there was a marked for everything so she didn't let it faze her at all.

The ballroom and the adjacent chambers were starting to look right, finally. But there were still a lot to do and not much time to do it in. Pansy's theme was amazing. Every surface sparkled and shimmered in the candlelight but they needed to be a lot of witches and wizards to complete the spell on the floor and ceiling and they had to do it at the same time in order for it to look cohesive. She started looking for Pansy, where had she got to now?

She didn't find Pansy but she did find a rather self-satisfied Blaise, who was sitting at the kitchen counter eating while being served by her house elves.

"Blaise."

"Narcissa!" He looked up and grinned at her and didn't show an ounce of worry at being caught doing nothing but eating.

"What in the name of Merlin are you doing?"

"Eating fish and chips. It's great, Drake told me about it. You want some?" He held out a fish with eyes and fins and all, covered in a light batter of some sort. She shuddered, it did _not_ look appealing.

"No. We have work to do, now get off your bottom and assist me."

"But…"

"No. Come. Now." Blaise hung his head and followed her out of the kitchen.

At no point in the conversation had Narcissa raised her voice, she found that it wasn't necessary when it came to both men and boys. The brash behaviour that others showed she would never display, even in her own house. Why yell your throat hoarse when your point would be very well understood in a firm even tone of voice.

Coming towards them however, was Garret Ollivander, carrying a large platter full of food. It was so crammed that he didn't see where he was going. Narcissa merely paused in her steps as he approached.

"Garret? What are you doing?"

"Oh…" He looked around the tower of food in his arms and spotted Blaise looking contrite. "Oh!" He hesitated again. "Hi darling. Well, Blaise and I thought that we needed some sustenance since we won't be finished any time soon. Do you want to join us?"

Blaise mouthed _nice save_ to him.

Narcissa was not impressed however. But before she could unleash much of her stress onto him, she heard the floo in the adjacent room and Draco's voice muttering something before Pansy could be heard loudly.

"Will you stop that?! We have work to do!"

They all walked in to see Draco hugging Hermione tightly while whispering softly in her ear while she composed herself. Draco fervently ignored Pansy and Narcissa decided to interrupt, so with a smile she approached them. They really did not have much time to get all of this completed.

"Miss Granger, I am so pleased to finally meet you properly. I have heard many great things about you from Draco of course and I will look very much forward to making your acquaintance." She held her hand out, clearly expecting Hermione to shake it.

Hermione only looked dumbfounded at the Malfoy matriarch but then she tilted her head to the side very slightly and her eyes narrowed infinitesimally, trying to gauge the sincerity of her words. Draco caught it and stepped forward to avoid any disasters, he really wanted his mother and Hermione to get along.

"Mother, please let me introduce my girlfriend, Hermione Granger. She's a muggle-born witch who probably more powerful than any of us and I am so proud that she has decided to be with me." He turned to Hermione. "Hermione, this is my mother, Narcissa Malfoy. She's a doting mother and a force to be reckoned with in her own right and she really _is_ interested in getting to know you properly." He gave Hermione a meaningful look and a small smile.

Hermione shook Narcissa's hand and the witches smiled at each other.

"Really Draco, that was hardly necessary, miss Granger and I will get to know each other soon enough."

"Please call me Hermione mrs. Malfoy."

"Absolutely, and call me Narcissa please. Mrs. Malfoy reminds me of my mother-in-law." She shuddered delicately.

Pansy cleared her throat. Again. This was annoying. They did not have time for these pleasantries. "Excuse me! Tomorrow this place will be filled with about five hundred witches and wizards, all clamouring to see what the great Narcissa Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson have come up with. But, if we just continue to stand around like this all they will see is a half-finished ballroom. Now get moving, will you?!"

Hermione stepped forward, going into business-mode immediately. "What do you need?"

"Alright, here's the plan…" Pansy then spent the next ten minutes outlining the plan, while Blaise and Garret passed out food for them all to eat. Even Narcissa took a cucumber sandwich.

When Pansy was done, Hermione smiled. "This won't take that long Pansy, we just need the right incantations." Hermione then walked into the main ballroom, closed her eyes for a few seconds and pointed her wand towards the ceiling silently. The entire ceiling changed immediately, taking on an almost silvery sheen with sparkles everywhere while silvery white baubles, bubbles and flakes of varying sizes fell slowly from the ceiling towards the ground and disappeared about ten feet before the floor, effectively making the very large ballroom seem intimate. They all gasped at the effect.

"Was this what you were looking for?" Hermione asked with a pronounced grin.

"Oh Sweet Merlin! You need to come join my company. Yes!" She jumped up and down and clapped excitedly. "Teach me!" Pansy and Narcissa walked over to Hermione to learn the spell and to duplicate the effect in the adjacent rooms. Pansy then directed the three wizards to their tasks and left at top speed.

While the witches were talking Blaise sidled up to Draco with his eyebrows in his hairline and a wide-eyed expression. They both looked up at the ceiling. "She is formidable."

"You have no idea." Draco grinned at his friend.


	19. Move

The evening at Malfoy Manor had gone surprisingly well, both Narcissa and Pansy had been very welcoming and Blaise had been downright friendly, albeit a bit terrified of her. Along with the outlandishly dressed house elves of the Manor, they had accomplished everything on Pansy's to do list in record time and the ballroom and the adjacent rooms looked spectacular. Everything shimmered and shined and looked very over the top, to Pansy it was just perfect. Hermione smiled at the way her former enemy had squealed in delight regarding some of her spells. She looked much more forward to the ball now.

The arm around her waist tightened.

She smiled.

When they'd returned from the Manor, tired to the bone, neither of them had thought about it. Both of them had just trudged to the master bedroom and gone to sleep in each other arms. Waking up like this was definitely something she could get used to. Going back to her own flat now seemed almost inconceivable, but it was also necessary if he didn't want to keep her here. She hoped he would and burrowed herself a bit further into his embrace.

* * *

He woke up slowly, trying to figure out where all of that warmth came from. And the hair, his vision was blurry with mahogany hair, he blinked a couple of times inhaling the scent that engulfed him. Hermione. Of course it was her, who else. They were spooning, she was using his arm as a pillow and his other arm was draped across her waist and stomach. But he had been a complete gentleman during the time she'd been staying at his flat so they hadn't been sleeping in the same bed. Well, they were right now and it felt wonderful.

"Good morning beautiful." He kissed the exposed part of her neck.

"Mmm, what time is it?" She croaked sleepily and interlaced her hand with his on her stomach.

He kept his arms around her and stretched to look at his bedside clock. "Oh, it's already half ten. Gods, we have to get up soon." He groaned and tightened his hold on her. "I could get used to waking up like this though."

She sighed. "I know. Me too."

They dozed another half hour before an owl started pecking very insistently at the window. Neither of them moved at all, both opting to stay in bed together. The pecking grew however and eventually he reluctantly got up and opened the window. He frowned, it was Astoria's owl that stretched out it's leg to him.

Just to be safe he summoned his wand and performed a few spells to check if it was safe. Nothing seemed amiss, so he unfurled the small scroll.

_My dearest Draco._

_I sincerely apologize for any rudeness on my part in my last missives to you, it was truly unintended._

_I am looking very much forward to seeing you and your new interest at the ball today._

_Please give her my regards._

_Kisses and love._

_Astoria_

He snorted loudly. This letter was complete and under nonsense, he knew she'd meant everything she'd written to him since they'd broken up and this sugary _nice_ letter seemed the exact opposite.

"Is everything okay?"

He shifted his attention to the witch in his bed and smiled happily. He didn't care about Astoria anymore at all, he was just glad that the venom from her had subsided, it was getting rather tiresome.

"Everything is fine, don't worry about it." He tossed the parchment in the bin and sat down on the edge of the bed. She sat up and kissed him deeply.

"Good, we do have a small gathering to attend to later on you know."

He gave her his signature smirk with happy mirth in his eyes. "Small you say? Did you not see the size of the main ballroom?"

"Well, I will choose to call it rather small, because I plan to stay in your arms for most of the night."

"Perfect, I'd prefer that."

They snuggled a bit more on the edge of the bed. He wanted her to stay there with him, he wanted this to be a permanent thing. It just felt right.

"So… How about if we tried it? You moving in here? For real instead of just temporary?" He was so nervous that his heart was pounding what felt like a thousand beats a minute. He struggled hard for his outward appearance of calm and collected and instead of looking into her eyes, he occupied himself by toying with a lock of her hair.

She nudged him and gave him a small smile, he took a deep breath and prepared himself for his offer to be rejected. "Well, where do I put all of my books?" She gave him a quick peck on the lips.

He lips quirked. "That could be remedied quickly if you wanted me to?" He stared into those big brown eyes of hers, willing her to accept him and to move forward with their relationship.

"In that case, remedy it. I have _a lot_ of books you know." Her grin was blinding and he matched it with his own before flattening her back down on the bed for a prolonged snogging session.

* * *

Her heart was lifted and she was looking very much forward to the ball now. She was moving in with Draco for real, _yay!_ She was almost skipping when she walked down Diagon Alley to meet up with Ginny and Luna, they were getting ready for the ball together at Luna's place and meeting up with their dates at the garden of the Manor, just beside the apparition point. Somehow, Ginny had convinced her to use copious amounts of Sleekeasy's Hair Potion again. She knew Draco liked her hair in its natural state but for an occasion like the ball she had relented to Ginny's demands.

Luna's hair was rolled up with very large rollers, giving her a very fifties-housewifey-feel, except for the fact that she was humming an odd tune and dancing every now and then in her oversized shirt with bare feet. Ginny's hair was rolled up as well but she was stringent in her preparations and she almost felt like a drill-master. She barked orders at them with regular intervals and poured champagne regularly as well. They laughed at Ginny's bossiness and Luna's explanations that her rollers had been infested by some small made up creatures, so she had to take them all out, take another bath and roll her hair back up.

Ginny was finished first thanks to her precision preparation regime and she looked gorgeous. Her flaming red hair was half up half down and fell in long soft waves down her back. Her hair was clasped with a golden pearl hair clip at the back of her head which complemented her long sleek shimmery white dress perfectly. It was sleeveless and had wide straps, a deep round neckline and a thigh high slit up one of her legs. At the base of her throat she had placed a single small strand of pearls with matching earrings. She wore natural brown smokey eyes and a deep red stained her lips, underlining her general sultry look.

In spite of her second bath Luna was second to finish and she looked lovely. Her hair was in a messy up-do with diamond pins scattered throughout her hair. Her tea length pale pink dress had spaghetti straps, a deep vee neckline with a diamond clasp in the centre of the vee, a tight bodice and it flared out from her waist into a fifties style dress with a soft pink tutu underneath to make it flare even more. She had on a minimum of makeup, but the mascara made her already large eyes impossibly big and the lip-gloss made her lips almost pouty. The effect was staggering.

After what felt like hours and hours, Hermione donned her dress and looked at the final result in the mirror of Luna's flat. She gasped, just the same as when she tried the dress on the first time, only now she was entirely made up. She loved the effect on her. She twirled a few times in front of the mirror.

Her nerves set in and she bit her lip. What would Draco think?


	20. The dress

They were supposed to meet up in the Manor garden and he was pacing and sweating. _Sweating!_ It was the nerves, definitely just nerves. Or something.

He looked up to see Harry Potter walking towards him. Both men eyed each other apprehensively but when he came close enough, the Gryffindor put out his hand to him and gave him a small smile, well, it could have been a grimace as well.

"Hi, I'm Harry Potter. You must be Draco Malfoy, Hermione's new boyfriend who makes her so very happy."

"Nice Potter. Very subtle." He rolled his eyes at the black-haired man who chuckled at him but shook hands with him nonetheless.

Harry shrugged. "I thought you and I could use a fresh start."

"You're certainly right about that." He sighed quietly to himself. It was inevitable really, especially now that Hermione was moving in with him. "Alright then. Fresh start it is." He clapped Harry once on the shoulder and gave him a small nod. That would have to do for now. Potter he could deal with but he wasn't so sure about Weasley.

A loud pop announced someone's arrival by apparition and looking up, he saw the youngest Weasley sauntering towards the man next to him. In his opinion, she did look very good but judging by Harry's reaction she looked spectacular. He nudged Harry once, he was actually gaping with his mouth hanging open and everything. He would catch flies if he didn't close his mouth soon.

When Harry enveloped her, a lot of crooning and kisses was passed beside him and he took a couple of steps away to avoid listening to most of it, he really did not want to witness that much affection between those two.

But then it was his own turn to gape. His attention was caught by a muffled pop and Hermione arrived with the Lovegood-girl in tow. She had her bare back to him but he would always be able to recognize her.

She ended her conversation and turned around, looking into his eyes and his breath caught in his throat.

He was floored.

No ands if or buts about it.

She was absolutely stunning and he didn't care if he now was the one gaping. Mouth open and everything.

Her dress was a very pale blue with silver details, almost translucent in its colour. Or icy if you will. It had a structured bodice with chiffon overlay that hung from her shoulders and then criss-crossed at her cleavage and at her navel. It had a bare back down to the small of her back, where the skirt started. Underneath the flowy skirt was essentially a business-like pencil skirt but the light and somewhat see-through chiffon overlay made the dress a lovely ball gown, eminently suitable for the ball they were attending. Her platform peep toe pumps were covered in silver sparkles and crystals and the sole and insole of it was a very pale blue that matched her gown beautifully.

She wore little makeup, just winged eyeliner, mascara and pale pink lipstick. Her hair was coiled in shiny soft ringlets that was gathered in a large loose five strand braid that fell down her bare back, with a few strands that framed her face and the braid was dotted here and there with clear crystals that caught the light as she moved, giving her an almost ethereal look.

She looked like she was glowing from within.

And she smiled at him. A nervous happy smile.

The effect was astounding and only her arrival in his arms kept him from actually sinking to his knees in front of her. He wrapped her tightly in his arms and kissed her again and again and told her repeatedly how absolutely beautiful she was, inside and out.

* * *

She smiled and blushed and loved this moment so completely. She was encased his arms and he was murmuring sweet words to her over and over.

After what seemed like only a few seconds however, they were rudely interrupted by the arrival of Ron Weasley and Lavender. "Oi, 'Mione, stop that will you? It's rather sickening."

He mock-gagged and Hermione turned around in his arms to glare at him with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "You just mind your own business Ronald." Her words didn't come out as harsh as she wanted them to, because she blushed as Draco had now wrapped his arms around her waist and taken to kiss her neck and exposed collarbone from behind her. He pointedly ignored the red-head in front of them.

He raised both hands in a gesture of surrender, grinned at her and went to kiss her other cheek. "I'm sorry alright? It was just a joke. You look lovely by the way."

She smiled back at him while covering Draco's hands with hers. "Thanks Ron. You look very handsome too."

Ron turned to Draco in an uncharacteristic show of maturity. "Malfoy." He frowned, trying to gather his jumbled thoughts about the Slytherin. "Just be good to her, okay?"

Draco pulled himself back upright and cocked his head to one side, peering at Ron. "I will. That's all I want."

Ron nodded and turned back to Lavender. That wasn't too bad a start, she could work with that. At least they were able to be in the same vicinity without hurling insults at each other.

* * *

They started to move towards the Manor one couple at the time. Luna went first with her date Rolf. They had both occupied themselves since arriving with debating if the white peacocks in the Manor gardens were magical or not and if so, what magical traits did they possess. They were both animated and completely unaware of the world around them. In the end, the debate had ended with Rolf agreeing with Luna (that of course they had magical traits, but maybe they just didn't want to show it in front of all of these strangers) for the price of a kiss. They were very sweet together and they breezed by the assembled press line by the entrance, completely preoccupied by each other.

Next went Harry and Ginny and the press went wild, flashes blinking furiously and questions was hurled at them at an alarming speed. Harry blinked uncomfortably and answered a few of the questions before Ginny steered them into the ballroom.

Ron and Lavender started forward. They spent a couple of minutes posing for the photographers and answering questions. Ron turned red a couple of times when the journalists asked particularly probing questions about his relationship with Lavender and about Hermione, but in general it went as smooth as could be.

Draco was hesitant about going in, he knew some of the people at the ball was not inclined to have a friendly attitude towards his witch but seeing as his mother had accepted her completely and that she was the host of the ball, it really didn't matter much. They could both easily handle a few sneers.

He turned towards Hermione, smiled and held out his arm to her. "Are you ready?"

She sighed and a determined look entered her eyes, before they softened when she looked at him. "As I'll ever be." She smiled at him and together they walked towards the entrance.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dress-inspiration is a dress worn by Demi Lovato designed by Maria Lucia Hohan for the 2011 Alma Awards, I've basically just changed the colour. The shoes are the absolutely fabulous Christian Louboutin wedding shoes, an idea for your something blue if you're getting married! ;-)


	21. The ball

They approached the press line with care. They had been hounded when out in public so incessantly that they didn't much care for the press and their probing questions. Why in the name of Merlin would Witch Weekly's readers like to know how Draco kissed? _Please._

As they both had expected, they were almost besieged by the assembled press. The Witch Weekly reporter asked that blasted kissing question again. _Really?_ She huffed and grumbled but Draco rubbed small circles on her lover back to calm her down and the effect was instantaneous. He really did know her well. They stayed a couple of feet away from the velvet rope the press was assembled behind, posing for pictures and answering the odd question.

Only when Rita Skeeter elbowed a few younger reporters out of the way and stepped forward did Hermione narrow her eyes. "Miss Granger." The gossip reporter gave her a nauseating syrupy smile as she purred her name. "Seeing as your wildly reputed 'true love' relationship with Mister Weasley failed, would you call your current relationship true love, hm?" Her face looked innocent but her eyes had a glint in them that she hated.

Hermione bristled but kept a straight face and answered her easily enough. "I have never called my relationship with Ron true love, nor have I called this one true love."

"So,-" Her smiled widened to an awful grimace of glee. "-what you are saying is that you did not love Mister Weasley, nor Mister Malfoy here. Or am I mistaken perhaps?"

Of course that horrid woman would twist everything to suit her needs but she pasted on a fake smile that felt mostly like a grimace. It seemed to placate the frantic photographer though. "Being in love is not the same as finding true love. I was in love with Ron and now I love him as a friend. And Draco and I are still figuring everything out. We have not yet known each other that long as a couple."

With that they moved at a measured pace towards the wide open double doors of the Malfoy Manor and away from Rita Skeeter. They both pointedly ignored the shouting from the reporters behind them and went to greet Narcissa in the beautifully decorated entrance hall. Pansy's scheme of Frost for the ball had been carried out flawlessly. The entrance hall was magically changed to a frozen forest wonderland, complete with pine trees covered in icicles and a frozen lake with a couple of life size male and female ice sculptures figure skating to Antonio Vivaldi's Winter from The Four Seasons that was playing continually in the background.

Narcissa herself looked striking in front of the iced forest scene behind her. She wore a floor length satin burgundy ball gown with a deep vee neckline, long sleeves, a dramatic chapel train and a small belt that cinched in her tiny waist to perfection. The entire top of the dress and the sleeves was covered with burgundy lace appliques with beading and sequins to catch the light and her back was bare, save for the lace appliques. Her hair was piled into an elegant bun at the nape of her neck and the only jewellery she wore was two brilliant cut pear shape diamond earrings topped by two brilliant cut round diamonds in each ear, each earring was at least fifteen carats. In short, she looked immaculate and regal, exactly how she had planned to look for an occasion such as this.

"Draco! Hermione! You're finally here. Everyone have been asking me about you two, you really are making quite the fuss darlings." She hugged Hermione and Draco gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You look lovely indeed Hermione and Draco, I'm surprised those dress robes still fit you, but you do look very dashing I must say."

He ignored her compliment and shrugged. "It was just hanging in my closet. You look wonderful mother." Draco sounded rather bored and she merely rolled her eyes at him.

"Please Draco,-" She drawled back at him looking deadpan and gestured lazily to her spectacular dress. "-this old thing? It was just lying around." Then a slow smile spread on her face. "Garret is in there somewhere and by the way, Astoria Greengrass has arrived already, she asked specifically for the two of you."

Draco was not in the mood for her drama, he just wanted to have a nice evening with Hermione. "I'm sure she'll find us mother but thank you for the warning."

"Enjoy yourselves dears and please move now. You are holding up the receiving line, so shoo." She chided them on into the ballroom and Draco chuckled.

"My mother is in very high spirits tonight, she's usually wound quite tight until everyone attending her gatherings have told her that it was an amazing evening."

She gave him a sly grin. Narcissa Malfoy seemed to have a great wittiness to Hermione. "I can tell where your very dry sense of humour came from." They grinned at each other and stepped into the magnificent ballroom.

* * *

It was a who's who of the magical world in Britain. Everyone was there and they were all dressed to the nines. Weasley, Potter and their dates was discussing quidditch nearby with Oliver Wood and his date, a chaser for the Holyhead Harpies. He knew Hermione would not particularly enjoy that conversation. Across the room he spotted Pansy talking to Blaise and Dean. Blaise wore the most outrageous three-piece suit he had ever seen, the base colour was black but then it was covered in a garishly sparkly golden pattern of riders locks and the white button up he had on underneath did not tone the look down at all and neither did his golden leather loafers. He looked like the decoration complete with tinsel and all out of one of those muggle Christmas catalogues that Hermione had shown him.

He nudged Hermione to look towards the trio near the bar. They gave each other a look and approached their three friends with matching smirks on their faces.

"Well,-" Draco eyed Blaise up and down, smirk still firmly in place. "I guess we now know who the girl in your relationship are."

Pansy snorted beside him and Dean choked on his drink. "Please Drake, we've all known that for years, Blaise is a complete queen. Only Dean here knows the proper dress code to a ball in that relationship." He wore a classic black muggle tuxedo complete with black shining patent leather shoes, with only the flair of a ruby red bow tie.

Blaise rolled his eyes at them. "Please, I will ignore all of you, you have no sense of fashion. Except my Dean." Dean smiled a happy smile at Blaise and they gave each other a quick kiss.

Dean shrugged at them all when he turned back and merely put his arm around Blaise's waist. "You look fabulous Hermione, that dress looks like it was made for you."

"Thank you, Dean." She blushed and Draco pulled her a bit closer.

The small talk bounced around the group until Draco noticed Pansy's eyes narrow at something behind him and Hermione but it seemed that he was the only one to notice it. He surreptitiously followed Pansy's gaze and found Astoria talking to Minister Shacklebolt. She was obviously trying to make a good impression because she was playing with her necklace, clearly trying to draw attention to her cleavage. The minister however, either seemed oblivious or he was very tactful in ignoring it.

* * *

Astoria came to the ball without a date. It was intentional. After she had confronted Draco and the _person_ he associated with, she knew she had to make a quick exit. After chatting with Narcissa at the entrance she had found out that the wards to stop apparition in the manor was still in place, that made her getaway a bit more complicated but definitely not impossible. She smirked as she finished greeting the host of the ball.

Turning into the ballroom she spotted the Minister for Magic. She squared her shoulders and checked her appearance in the nearby mirror. He would find her irresistible of course. All men did.

Her waist-length blond corn silk hair was shimmering in the light of the candles around the room, her black silk floor length dress had a plunging neckline and a plunging back that were held up with the thinnest spaghetti straps possible and the thigh high slit up one of her legs made the dress seem barely there. She had commissioned it specially for this occasion. She knew Draco would be here and she wanted him to regret their break-up badly. She was still seething from the lack of access to the Malfoy vaults and she had been working so hard on securing him. The dress inspiration was basically a slip dress and she loved the effect. The thin fabric flowed with her body as she moved around the room, leaving as little as possible to the imagination. She'd already caught a few stares sent her way by young wizards and even a few witches and she felt empowered by it.

Irresistible and empowered was the perfect mix of emotions for seeing her ex and his new… _thing_. She tapped the small metal box in her bag twice.


	22. The light

Everyone's attention was called when the ringing of a small bell was heard around the room. Narcissa Malfoy and Minister Shacklebolt, along with many of the witches of the Sacred Twenty-Eight was standing on a raised platform at the end of the room.

As the chatter ceased, Narcissa stepped forward. "Welcome everyone, to the first annual Winter Charity Ball." They all clapped and Narcissa gracefully waited for the clapping to die down and smiled. "This ball has been instated as a beacon of hope to those who have lost so much in the pointless and tragic second wizarding war, especially the children. But it does not stop there, we will help any creature affected by the war as much as we are able. There is a silent auction for the items that are placed around the room. Each box beside the item is a bidding-box. All bids are anonymous unless you request it to be otherwise. Please be as generous as you can as the entirety of the bidding amount will go to those still struggling. Every knut you can spare will make a difference for someone in need. If you do not wish to bid on the items, donations, large or not, can be made directly in the box placed by the entrance. This ball is only made possible by the invaluable aid of the Ministry,-" Kingsley Shacklebolt nodded towards the assembled crowd. "-and the families that are standing behind me. Also, Miss Parkinson is the creator of this excellent theme, the music and the lovely decorations you see around you." She said the last part as though it was supposed to be a secret and Pansy just knew she would be fully booked for the next year at least. "Please enjoy your evening and part with as many galleons as you are able."

The applause was thunderous and Narcissa and the Minister had to bow their heads a few times before the applause finally came to an end and the music started. Pansy had hired a wizarding string quartet to play as people were bidding. When the dancing started, they would be joined by a singer, a pianist, a drummer, a bassist, a guitarist and a trumpetist, making up an entire band. The ambiance in the room was festive and friendly, there were people dancing everywhere and smiles all around.

Neville Longbottom was dancing with his girlfriend Hannah Abbott, Luna and Rolf was doing the oddest dance-moves but in perfect synchronization to each other, Pansy was running around like a mad-woman ensuring that all went as planned as she directed the house elves in their odd outfits, Blaise and Dean were mingling about the room holding hands and Narcissa and Garrett was talking animatedly to the Minister, Molly and Arthur about the different charities the ball would benefit. The professors of Hogwarts were also present along with Hagrid, who towered over everyone. Bill and Fleur were moving gracefully around the dancefloor, Charlie was having a chess match in a corner with Ron and Lavender was standing beside him chatting with the Patil twins. It was impossible to see all of their friends and family but Hermione smiled to herself. This was what Dumbledore had wanted, this was the inter house unity he always went on about. She took a small moment to remember the deceased and revered former headmaster of Hogwarts.

* * *

Draco and Hermione walked together around the room, looking at the items that were being auctioned off and making small talk with wizards and witches as the meandered through the room. Draco bid on three or four items, a muggle car with magical modifications, a weekend at the Three Broomsticks and items like that, but Hermione was more careful in her choice. She noticed a very small silvery inconspicuous looking object that she knew very well. It was Ron's. Well, it had been Ron's and before him it had belonged to the great Albus Dumbledore. She looked transfixed at the small deluminator on the pillow when she felt someone behind her.

His low voice filtered through the din of the room. "I wanted to do something good in the world but it all seems a bit botched. I haven't been much good at it. And this thing, I haven't used it much since… you know, the time we were running. It will be better that someone gets a safe bed or a scholarship to Hogwarts for it. I don't have any money to donate but I had that."

"Oh Ron!" She turned around and threw herself into his arms, sniffling all the while. "You are such a good man, don't let anybody tell you otherwise." She knew his temper had gotten him in trouble more than once. Ron held her tight while giving Draco a rather panicked look, but he seemed to take her outburst in stride, only raising his eyebrow at the redhead questioning.

Harry ambled over with Ginny by his side. "Hey guys, what's going on?" He took one look at Hermione clutching Ron. "'Mione, are you alright?" She released herself from Ron and took Draco's hand, he had been standing next to them during the small exchange. She nodded, still sniffling when Draco handed her a soft monogramed handkerchief to dry her eyes. She pointed to the deluminator and Harry understood immediately why she was reacting this way. He nodded and beside him Ginny blinked back a few tears.

Draco didn't know why they all got teary over a little silver… was it one of those muggle fireboxes? But he knew that Hermione and the daft duo had been through their fair share of trials both before and during the war, so he wasn't going to ruin their moment.

Ron looked around at the assembled group. "I don't want this to be a big thing. It's just something valuable that I happen to own and never use, so I thought it could do some good for someone else." He shrugged and Harry coughed to mask his emotions. Ron was trying to play it down, he didn't want this much attention brought to it. But he'd been to his vault at Gringotts and he didn't have much saved, he was trying to save up for that ring he wanted to give Lavender. But he'd wanted to contribute. So after a few evenings of quiet contemplations and a simple talk with Lavender, he had donated the deluminator to the silent auction.

Hermione was trying to stem the quiet flow of tears. Those months on the run had been so hard, especially after Ron had left but that deluminator and it's light had been his way back to them. It had helped him find them again. It had given him and thus the three of them the light they had needed to complete their quest. It had choked her up instantly when she saw it and she held Draco's hand tight as though it was a lifeline.

Harry was the first to move out of their stupor. "Right then." He cleared his throat and walked to the box beside the deluminator. He wrote an obscene number of galleons on the parchment, folded it neatly and put it in the box. Then he turned and hugged Hermione and Ron at the same time. "It will do some good mate. The light always shine through the darkness." He was reassuring until his voice changed to playful. "But that deluminator stays in our little makeshift family, it can be very handy you know." They all smiled to each other as they untangled themselves and the tension was alleviated.

Hermione considered it great timing as she saw Rita Skeeter making her determined way towards them all. She drew the attention of the people around her to the reporter barrelling them down and they each suddenly had some pressing matters to discuss with someone way across the room. When Rita Skeeter arrived at the spot where they'd been just a minute earlier, no one was there and she pouted annoyed. She was however, very intrigued in the rare and valuable object they'd been gathered around and the quick quotes quill beside her was whizzing back and forth across the parchment.

* * *

Another hour was spent by the partygoers looking at the items for the auction but Draco started getting bored. He had bid on the items he'd wanted and Hermione had placed only one bid. She'd bid on a first edition Hogwarts: A History, _of course_. He'd rolled his eyes at that since she knew the book by heart but she'd told him to please mind his own business and that she was getting that amazing book whether he liked it or not. He'd smiled in defeat and kissed his witch. She really was just right for him.

He moved her towards the food, he wasn't particularly hungry but it would be a way to pass time pleasantly. They gathered a small plate each and went to the high tables and bar seats that were placed in one corner of the ballroom. Hermione sighed as they sat down and rubbed her feet surreptitiously.

"It doesn't matter how many cushioning charms I place on my shoes, it still feels like I am tiptoeing all night." She extended one leg from her seat to look at her shoe. "They are so pretty though." She sighed wistfully but then narrowed her eyes at the shoes. "Why do the prettiest one always hurt?" She looked up at Draco just then and he had a trickle of fear run down his spine.

"I hope you're talking about your shoes still?" He gave her a pointed look.

"Oh…" She looked down at her shoes, frowning in contemplation. "Oh!" Her expression lightened instantly and she gave him a breathtaking smile. "Yes of course I am Draco." She said softly and leaned over and kissed him ever so sweetly.

"I was worried for a second there." He kissed her again and she laughed out loud this time.

"Don't be, I can't wait to move in with you. Well, me and Crooks are moving in with you." She winked and he winced.

"Ugh, cat hair. _Red_ cat hair. I am _not_ looking forward to that." He mock-shuddered and she rolled her eyes and grinned at him.

* * *

Astoria spotted them sitting comfortably at one of the tables in their own world. All of those emotions in their eyes. They were sickening really, so touchy-feely and Gryffindor-ish, how absolutely unsophisticated.

But they were practically alone there. Not many people were around them and it was as close to the exit as she could hope for.

Perfect.

_Showtime._


	23. The incident

Hermione was loving this little moment with Draco. He and Crooks got on so well that she wasn't concerned about them moving in with him. He complained and complained and she was just grinning at him, the barely-there smirk and the mischievous glint in his molten eyes showing how much he liked to tease her about it.

Out of the corner of her eye however, she spotted something. It seemed off. She got that prickle down her spine that told her that something was wrong. It had saved her and her two boys more than once during the war and her instincts was usually never wrong. She made a quick sweep of her surroundings. Nothing seemed afoot. But that feeling was still there. She looked around covertly but still nothing. She thought she'd might have seen a couple of ice blue eyes narrow at her but she was probably mistaken.

She tried to shake the feeling off. She was having such a good time with Draco.

* * *

Daphne had assured her that what she was doing wasn't illegal. She was so _not_ going to Azkaban for this. She adjusted her cleavage again and checked her appearance once more in one of the many gilded mirrors adorning the walls. She looked spectacular if she said so herself. And she _did_ say so. But good old-fashioned revenge was certainly sweet and she relished the feeling of power surging through her as she purposefully marched towards the couple, the small metal box concealed in her closed hand. They wouldn't be able to see this coming. All she had to do was complete her plan and disappear from the Ball with no one the wiser that she was behind it.

* * *

They got up to dance once again, she wasn't really a dancer, but he was an exceptional dancer that it just seemed effortless with him. As were almost anything for her when she was with him.

From a distance of about twenty feet she caught sight of Astoria sauntering towards them, she really was beautiful but Draco didn't seem to care much about her. When he saw her approaching a moment later he tensed up and drew Hermione closer to him.

"Astoria." His voice was cold and annoyed. He didn't trust her intentions for seeking them out at all.

"Draco." The blond witch purred his name, drawing it out just a bit too long. "So lovely to see you again." She touched him casually on his arm, trying to convey something to him. Her smile had a predatorial edge to it which he completely ignored. When she turned towards Hermione however, the smile stayed fixed in place but it became extremely cold. "And you must be miss Granger. Lovely to finally meet you." Her smiled didn't reach her eyes and her voice unquestionably did _not_ purr anymore.

Hermione eyed the witch up and down slowly and deliberately just to make a point. "Pleasure." Her voice was curt and laced with disgust, not unlike the first time she ever met Ron.

"How have you been? We haven't been able to catch up at all these past few months." The purr was back, more pronounced than before and her hand lingered on his forearm. She completely ignored Hermione after their less than warm greeting.

"I'm fine Astoria. What do you want?" Draco was short and annoyed. It practically radiated off him in waves. More than ever since they met at the coffeeshop those months ago, did he remind her of the arrogant entitled boy he was at Hogwarts.

"Is it that unlikely that I just wanted to see you?" She practically batted her eyelashes at him and Hermione couldn't stop the disbelieving snort that escaped her, even if she'd wanted to, which she hadn't. "You've been _so_ busy since we broke up and I just want to ensure that you are okay. If you _ever_ need _anything_ , you know all you have to do is owl me."

"I think not." His patience for this cold calculating witch in front of him was wearing thin. Looking at her now, he couldn't believe that he'd actually considered spending his life with her. She was the opposite to Hermione, the warm beautiful witch beside him and he hugged her tighter to his side.

"But why? We always had _such fun_ together." She was laying it on thick now, her hand was caressing his forearm still despite the fact that he'd shaken her off multiple times. She was flirting with him with all she had and he hated it.

He later wondered if maybe his answer to her question was what set her off.

He ripped his arm from her grasp and gave her a look that made the flirting witch flinch. "Astoria. I have no interest in you and I can tell you right now that no matter how much you try, you will never see the inside of the Malfoy Vaults." He snorted once, an antagonistic arrogant sound. "You are a emotionless calculating snake who only has an interest in my galleons and connections. Do not contact me, do not contact my mother and do not contact Hermione.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously but surprisingly, she turned to walk away from them.

* * *

He let out a breath he didn't know that he'd been holding in. He turned towards Hermione and turned his back on Astoria as she was walking away with her nose in the air, he could just picture the outrage on her face.

Not for nothing was Hermione known as the Brightest Witch of the Age and not for nothing had she survived almost a year on the run from Voldemort and his Death Eaters with two boys who had desperately needed her help especially regarding their own protection. Also, her battle-skills was still perfectly capable. It just seemed as though Astoria had forgotten those specific details in her plotting against Hermione and Draco.

"PROTEGO!"

Hermione had her wand out and cast the shield charm in a matter of a second or two. Her wand had been magically concealed in her bodice and she didn't even think, she just reacted to a perceived threat against her and Draco. It was pure instinct.

Some horrible looking blob bounced off her shield charm and landed on two women close to them, one walking towards Hermione and Draco and the other watching the scene beside them in barely disguised glee.

"ARGH! WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN'S SOGGY BOTTOM IS THIS?!" Pansy's high pitch shriek was heard by everyone at the ball. Even the music stopped and only the screeches of the two outraged women could be heard throughout the ballroom. "Tergeo! Scurgyfy! Skurge! UGH! Why is this not working?!" She stamped her foot in frustration. Then her face contorted to complete revulsion and she almost growled. "And the _smell_! YUCK!" She shook her hands violently in disgust and the guests closest to her scarpered as quickly as possible to avoid the thick flying paste-like sludge.

She was covered in a substance that best could be described as sticky goo. Nasty smelling _black_ sticky goo. A lot of people rushed to her aid, but no one wanted to touch her. The smell was unbelievable and soon many of the guests sported Bubble-head Charms, so as to be able to breathe freely. It clearly wasn't toxic, but the smell was absolutely horrendous.

* * *

No one seemed to notice that right behind Pansy was Daphne Greengrass, who was also covered from head to foot in the very concoction she'd handed to Astoria just a couple of days ago. She had gotten a taste of her own medicine.

"TORI!" She screamed and yelled as loud as she was able but her sister did not answer. She was rooted to the spot in complete and utter shock.

Never had Astoria imagined that Granger would be able to protect her and Draco from the liquid that quickly. And with a shield charm too. A powerful shield charm. It had practically bounced back towards the right of where Astoria stood with enough force to cover not just one, but two people who hadn't been that close to one another. Her sister and Pansy Parkinson. No. No no no. N _OOOO_! Pansy was especially vindictive, she would ruin her. She wouldn't even think twice about it.

Looking at Pansy now, screaming and her face contorted with rage and disgust, she knew she had to leave. Now. But she couldn't. She couldn't make her feet move. In fact, she couldn't move at all, not even an inch.

Only too late did she notice a smirk from her ex and a nasty satisfactory grin on Granger's face. And then she started falling. It felt as though she was falling in slow motion, the ground coming closer all the time to her face. She huffed inwardly. Her immaculate look was going to be ruined now. Salazar curse it.


	24. The consequenses

Hermione had quickly cast a silent Full Body-Bind on Astoria to prevent her escaping. She knew it was Astoria and she was well aware that's why her sister had had such a triumphant expression on her face before the blob had hit her unexpectedly.

She watched with a gratified smile as Astoria fell face first on the hardwood floor, stiff as a board. What Astoria had just done wasn't technically illegal but there were other instruments they could and certainly would use against her. Pansy especially, had an extremely colourful vocabulary when it came to describing just how disgusted she was by the stuff covering her. She and Draco would have no troubles convincing Pansy that a civil lawsuit against Astoria would be the way to go, and Hermione's intimate knowledge of magical law would come in extremely handy.

She walked over to where Pansy was now sobbing uncontrollably amidst her shrieks of horror and incredulity that her beautiful dress was ruined forever and what would this do to her hair?! Blaise stood beside her with an absolutely disgusted look on his face, desperately trying to console the miserable witch while staying conspicuously out of her range. When Pansy actually reached for Blaise's hand he recoiled from her and her shrieks increased in volume, how that was even possible Hermione would never know. No one really paid much attention to Daphne beside Pansy. She was howling just as much but those who had seen Astoria fall, wasn't inclined to help her much as they more often than not were in league with each other.

The awful odour increased as she got closer to Pansy, it smelled oddly like something rotten. As in, very much on the road to decay, ugh. Rotten eggs perhaps? Come to think of it, she was very sure that it was rotten eggs. It wasn't anything sinister, well not magically sinister anyway or it would have done its dead already. She conjured a vial and took a sample from Pansy, who promptly wailed at her.

"Hermione, do something! What is this?! This was to be my night of triumph!" She wailed, but then her expression hardened and she yelled angrily. "Whoever did this are history! Blasted and utter history! They'll lose all their galleons! Every single little knut! ARGH!" She stamped her foot again and a large black blob that had been balanced precariously on top of her head was now slowly sliding down her face. She tried to shake her head and hands to get the stuff off her but to no avail, the thick oil-like black substance was keeping itself firmly to Pansy's body except for small flying clumps. It looked suspiciously like tar. _Tar?_ Where on earth would Astoria have gotten tar from? It was a very muggle product. There were clumps too, big fat ones and smaller white ones, what on earth was that? She was loath to touch the gunk but it could be clumps of flour maybe? Very odd. She couldn't tell what more was in there but the more she looked, the more she realized that it was basically a muggle prank concoction, except for the addition of the tar. That twist was astonishingly Weasley-twins-esque.

She wanted to roll her eyes at Pansy who was now howling at Blaise, who tried so hard to keep her calm, and Daphne was sobbing noisily just beside them. If Astoria could, she would have probably made just as much noise as the others. Those Slytherins really were a rather dramatic bunch.

* * *

Someone cursing loudly could be heard stamping across the room in high heels. The assembled onlookers parted like the sea for an incensed Narcissa stopped in front of the scene, taking it all in with narrowed eyes.

"Who dares attack guests in _my_ house?" Her voice was low. Dangerously low. Draco knew that voice.

He'd only heard it twice before. The first time, his father had felt his mother's wrath then because he'd been trying to teach Draco the Unforgivable curses before his ninth birthday. Needless to say, Lucius had slept in one of the guest bedrooms for months on end after that. The second time was when Lucius had volunteered Draco to take the Dark Mark. Since that day Lucius would never be let into her bedroom again. It was unforgivable to her and his father had hobbled around for weeks after a particularly long argument between his parents just before the start of his sixth year. She'd still loved him but she loved her son more.

No one had the guts to answer Narcissa's question except for her son, who merely raised an eyebrow and pointed to the stiff Astoria on the floor with the hint of a cruel smirk playing around his lips.

The regal Malfoy matriarch walked slowly over to where Astoria lay. Her wand was in her hand out of nowhere and a couple of guests gasped at her powerful non-verbal magic as a stiff wide-eyed Astoria was lifted up in the air to face the wrath of Narcissa Malfoy.

* * *

Astoria panicked at hearing Narcissa close in on the scene. She had not expected this. She hadn't realized that there was even the slightest chance that she would get caught at all.

Narcissa's deceptively low voice filtered through her panic-shrouded brain. "Miss Greengrass." She sounded controlled and the barest hint of the Malfoy arrogance seeped through. "I would advise you strongly to be honest with me now." Her eyes were narrowed and hard, it made Astoria's panic increase exponentially. She wouldn't curse her in front of all of these people, would she?

"Who gave you this-" She hesitated for dramatic effect and wrinkled her nose. "-stuff?" As she'd finished her question, Astoria felt all of her limbs loosen up, Narcissa had ended the full body-bind silently but she was still stuck in the air, floating somewhat inelegantly.

"Uhm, my sister did Mrs. Malfoy." Her voice was so small, she felt like a chastised child. Why oh why hadn't she thought of a lie? Panic was obviously clouding her mind to detrimental effects.

"WHAT?! You ungrateful little twat! How dare you throw me under the hippogriff like that?!" Daphne, covered head to toe in the stuff in question, was howling at her sister but was unable to reach her as she was stuck to the floor where she stood.

"I see." Narcissa said coldly as she non-verbally silenced Daphne who was now silently screaming at Astoria and making rather rude gestures at her sister. "And of what does it consist?"

"Uhm, I don't actually know. My sister does though. I got the box from her. It was shrinked." Astoria had perked up as she answered, maybe she could pin it on Daphne and get away with it unscathed.

Narcissa removed the silencing charm from Daphne effortlessly and gave her a pointed look that clearly said _explain_. Daphne cowered before the magnificent witch and sighed defeated, all anger towards her sister evaporating temporarily when the enraged Narcissa's full attention was on her. "Rotten eggs, wall paper plaster, tar and flour. It is created by these components because they cannot be siphoned off with magical spells. None of it is prohibited though but it is _disgusting_." The disgust on her face was easy to read, even through the layers of the black stuff covering her.

Narcissa eyed the Greengrass sisters carefully, one hanging awkwardly in mid-air and the other ungracefully crumpled on the floor, impaled on her own sword so to speak. "And where is this box now?"

Astoria took a deep breath and looked at the floor. "I vanished it as soon as the contents were thrown from it."

"May I ask why this-" She gestured to two angry and distraught witches beside her. "-was necessary? I assume that you were not targeting your own sister, so whom in particular was your target?" The Malfoy drawl was there now and her eyes were hard as flint. Narcissa Malfoy was a Black descendant and they were all powerful wizards and witches, Astoria knew that.

It has seemed so easy. In, mingle, flirt with Draco (and try to get him back if at all possible but she'd known that plan was bordering on incompetent and she _didn't_ _do_ incompetent), dismiss Granger as the filth she was, walk away, throw the liquid covertly and get out as soon as possible. No questions asked and no one would know that it was her, except for Draco who'd have no proof. Blasted! Needless to say, it had _not_ gone according to the plan.

However, she was still a Slytherin so there was still one way out and she was going to take it. Blame it on him.

She gave a mock shudder and faked trying to gather her courage, as if she was divulging a terrible secret. The onlookers were intrigued and seemed to hang on her every word. "Your son has been treating be abominably Mrs. Malfoy, both before and during our breakup. He has refused any of my polite requests for assistance in any way and he has blatantly ignored me since he and _that filth_ -" She pointed to Hermione. "-got together." She was certain that she would find an ally in Narcissa Malfoy when it came to her son cavorting with a muggleborn. "I am not certain what she has filled his head with Mrs. Malfoy but his treatment of me has me convinced that she has him under some sort of spell. I merely meant to enable him to see sense." She implored her lie to the matriarch with large puppy eyes and a forlorn honest expression on her face. She knew it was good, she'd been working on it since she was five after all.

The hint of a smile was gracing Narcissa's lips during the so-called explanation but her eyes could cut diamonds. "Spare me your practised theatrics Miss Greengrass, I have seen and used it myself too many times to fall for it." Her look could surely have frozen even an angry stampede of centaurs. "You and your sister will leave Malfoy Manor now. You are unwelcome and the wards will be changed to forbid you both entrance from now on. You can expect to be charged with attempted assault and defamation of character to my son and his girlfriend as well as assault to Miss Parkinson." She paused dramatically and then used the same low dangerous voice as before. "Expect to lose." With that she waved her wand once and Astoria clattered to the floor in a heap of complete mortification and turned her back on the scene, walking through the crowd to find the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

* * *

Astoria tried to ignore the hostile looks she was getting from the onlookers as she stumbled to her feet and went to her sister.

"Tori, help me up! We need to get out of here!"

"Ugh, don't touch me Daph, that is so nasty that I can't even think around you." She wrinkled her nose and tried to step away from her sister, but Daphne was faster. She got hold of her arm and pulled her down.

"Daph! What the…? EEEEW!" Astoria fell down beside her sister and she was soon covered from the waist down in the black grease. "What did you do that for Daph?! This is _so disgusting_!"

"Help me up then Tori!"

The two women tumbled around on the floor, trying to move but it was becoming more difficult as the sludge seemed to harden a bit. A house elf appeared suddenly before them in a spectacular bright red dress with a matching tea-cosy on top of her head.

"Mistress says you are to be escorted home. Where to misses?" The elf spoke in a high pitch squeaky voice.

Daphne exhaled in relief and snarled at the elf. "Greengrass Manor and make it quick!" Finally someone who could actually help them properly instead of all of those who were gawking and sneering at them.

The elf snapped her fingers once without touching them and both sisters, including the black caramel-like substance covering them, were vanished on the spot leaving behind only the pristine hardwood floor of the Malfoy ballroom and the lingering smell.

* * *

Draco, Blaise, Dean, Garret, Harry, Ron and Neville took turns helping Pansy, they all wore Bubble-Head Charms but it still took them most of an hour to siphon the muck from her, both magically and manually. Hermione stood with Ginny and Lavender, trying to assist as much as possible without being caught in the black mass. They had found that dresses didn't help in vicinity of the stuff, curtesy of Astoria's slip into Daphne's pile, so the men had to be the ones to help her.

When she could move, Narcissa insisted that she was levitated in a special Bubble-charm she knew, which meant that all of the remains of the greasy concoction were contained along with Pansy inside the huge see-through bubble. Hermione thought that it was a rather clever move. When she mentioned that to Draco he merely gave her a blinding smile and said that all Malfoy's were exceptionally clever. He earned himself a small whack on the shoulder and a searing kiss for that comment.

Pansy didn't reappear at the ball, she was mortified once she was clean again. But as Hermione learned that evening: A mortified Pansy equals a furious Pansy and soon enough, she was plotting against the Greengrass sisters. Hermione and Draco's words regarding suits against the sisters slowly gained ground in her mind and it wasn't long before it seemed the only course of action to her, because she really wanted to make them pay, literally.

* * *

The Greengrass sisters appeared suddenly in the drawing room of their ancestral home and were shocked when someone dropped a tea cup behind them. They turned just in time to see their mother faint at the sight of them covered in the black grease. Their father went to her instantly and turned towards his daughters when his wife was safely ensconced in his arms.

"What in the name of Salazar Slytherin himself have you two gotten yourselves into now?!" He roared at them. When both his daughters, covered in something black and foul smelling, started to explain at the same time a pounding headache started at the front of his skull. He thought back on the early days of his marriage and his fervent wish to have daughters. He regretted it now. Those two were a pain. He closed his eyes in obvious annoyance but still they talked at the same time, trying to be the first to get their specific view across. "Silence! You will clean up this mess yourselves instantly! And do not use the elves, they are tending to your mother's flowerbed." He looked adoringly at his wife but the minute he turned back to his daughters, the headache returned in full force. "Fix this!" He roared again and strode out of the room. He could hear his daughters' infuriating bickering behind him.


	25. Epilogue

_HAS GOLDEN TRIO MEMBER RON WEASLEY FINALLY GONE MAD OR IS HE EXTREMELY GENEROUS?_

_Article written by special correspondent Rita Skeeter._

_During the spectacular ball held yesterday at Malfoy Manor, this reporter witnessed a touching moment between the Golden Trio. It would seem that Mr. Ron Weasley has chosen to auction off an item so special and rare that he would have fetched top galleon for it, should he have chosen to sell it on the open market. But instead he has donated his deluminator to the silent auction at the Winter Charity Ball. This item, this reporter has learned, has been personally created by none other than the great Albus Dumbledore, former Hogwarts headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, whose tragic death during the beginning of the Second Wizarding War influenced the Chosen One to triumph against He Who Must Not Be Named. The deluminator fetched the highest auction price at the Ball by far, this reporter has been informed secretly, as the highest bid was upwards of 50,000 galleons. It is unclear who the lucky bidder was, but donator Mr. Weasley is now hailed as a charitable soul throughout the wizarding community for his selfless act towards those who are in dire need. One must question however, whether Mr. Weasley was of sound mind as he chose to depart with this valuable bequest from his former headmaster._

* * *

_THE GREENGRASS SISTERS' FALL FROM GRACE_

_Article written by special correspondent Rita Skeeter._

_Grudges are common between many magical families and can be held for centuries, mostly only presenting themselves as sneers between polite greetings and a refusal to let one's offspring marry into that particular family. A grudge however, seems to have been developed between the youngest Greengrass sister, Astoria Greengrass, towards Mr. Draco Malfoy, who she has formerly been in a relationship with. This reporter is unaware what has caused the recent attack, which have been extensively covered by yours truly, on the young Mr. Malfoy and his date, the Brightest Witch of the Age, Miss Hermione Granger at the Winter Charity Ball held at Malfoy Manor. Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy has threatened the youngest Greengrass with utter ruin, which is sure to be an efficacious venture as the most important and influential magical circles follow her lead, especially since the wildly successful Winter Charity Ball at the family's main estate, Malfoy Manor. One must wonder if Miss Greengrass had actually thought out her antagonistic undertaking or if it was a spur of the moment decision. Either way, it is to be presumed that Miss Greengrass will be spending many hours in the courts of Magical Law in the coming months, and not in the drawing rooms of the magical elite._

* * *

_BETROTHAL ANNOUNCEMENT – Interview with the happy couple!_

_Article by special correspondent Rita Skeeter._

_Miss Hermione Granger has accepted the suit of Mr. Draco Malfoy and they are now affianced to be bonded in a private ceremony in the coming fall. The happy couple posed for the photographs during the interview and their happiness shows in both their obvious devotion to one another, as well as the way they interact. The only way to explain it, dear readers, was that they moved as though they were a single entity, always aware of the other both physically and mentally._

_Question: Did you love each other from the very beginning?  
HG: No, definitely not. We met at Hogwarts and we detested each other but the times changed and we changed with them. When we met again last year we were both ready to start again.   
DM: I don't know though, maybe I've always had a thing for you, my witch.   
_[This reporter can tell you that she positively blushed at the intimate look the betrothed couple shared.]__

_Question: When did you know that you wanted to spend the rest of your lives together?_  
HG: I'd been staying at Draco's the week leading up to first annual Winter Charity Ball and Draco was the perfect gentleman who slept on the couch while I hogged the bed. The evening before the ball we had been assisting Mrs. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson with their preparations and we were dead on our feet when we got back so we just crawled into bed and fell asleep together, it felt so natural, like breathing.   
DM: I knew quite early on that if she wanted to keep me, I wouldn't go anywhere. And like Hermione said, as natural as breathing.

 _Question: How did you choose the ring?_  
DM: This ring [A simple, yet magnificent goblin-made 5 ct. diamond solitaire ring with a platinum band, edt.] has been in my family for centuries but it has not been much in use as it is less gaudy than some of the other pieces available to the family. The simplicity that this piece embodies show my true feelings for Hermione, she's a diamond and I want to show her and only her off. She doesn't need a lot of overwhelming jewellery to be the most beautiful witch in my eyes.   
[An adorable kiss between the couple ended the sentence, edt.] 

_Question: Does the ring carry any enchantments?_  
DM: It might.   
HG: It does. Many in fact. 

_Question: May we be privileged to some of the enchantments?_  
DM: Oh, you better not.   
HG: We're trying to adapt some of them, one of them repel other men so I can't even hug my best friends!   
DM: They'll live.   
HG: As long as they don't hug me.   
DM: I rather like that particular enchantment.

 _Question: How did you propose?_  
DM: Well, since this witch it rather clever, my plan was to surprise her in the Malfoy library with an elaborate picnic in front of the fireplace. I went all out and had my mother and Pansy [Parkinson, edt.] helping me with setting it all up. Of course, she wasn't easy to drag away from all of the rare books in front of her but in the end, I managed to stutter the question that had been on my mind for months before that day and to my utter joy, she said yes.   
HG: Through the tears and smiles I managed to whisper yes, you mean. 

_Question: Have you plans for your wedding yet?_  
HG: Not in the slightest, but I trust that my future mother-in-law and Pansy already have formed a plan for us. I'll only insist that the wedding cake must be a carrot cake underneath the decorations.   
DM: No plans, only a wish that it remains a relatively small affair.   
HG: Well, as small as can be expected from your mother. 

_Question: Do you envision children in your future? And if so, how many?_  
HG: At least one, maybe more.   
DM: I grew up an only child, I'd like to give my children siblings.

 _Question: What comes next for the Malfoy heir and the Brightest Witch of her Age?_  
DM: Well, it depends really but Hermione will continue her vital work for the Ministry and I will continue my work at Malfoy Ltd. We have no immediate plans to change that.   
HG: We both want to do some good in the world and I'm sure we'll accomplish just that.

_This reporter left the blissful couple in the soon-to-be-groom's ancestral home with the certainty that they will change the wizarding world to the better, if they desire to so. All that is left is to wish the joyous pair good luck and all the happiness in the world.  
[This article have been approve by the couple, edt.]_

* * *

_Titbits and tattles by Parvati Patil._

_This summer, many a witch and wizard has braved the heat wave sweeping the nation and stopped by Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley to quench the high temperature. That is also true for none other than favourite Golden Girl, Hermione Malfoy herself. She was accompanied by her husband of ten months and he catered to her every need as she rested her swollen feet on a conjured footrest and ate her strawberry ice cream with whipped cream and caramel sauce happily. This reporter was assured that all is well with her pregnancy and that their first child, a boy, is still expected in September of this year._

* * *

_MALFOY LTD. LAUNCHES THE WOLFSBANE POTION TO THE MASSES_

_Article written by special correspondent Rita Skeeter._

_The Wolfsbane Potion is a notoriously difficult potion to properly brew in order to achieve the desired results. Malfoy Ltd. held a press conference today and launched a potion that can be bought by owl order or in the Malfoy Apothecary in Diagon Alley. The potion comes in a special container that has a permanent in-built stasis charm on it,in order to preserve the tricky potion's magical abilities best. Mr. Draco Malfoy addressed the assembled press. "We have worked on and tested this potion for years and finally we are able to present this opportunity to those suffering from Lycanthropy. It would not have been possible without our genius potioneers and with the additional and invaluable assistance of Professor of Herbology Neville Longbottom and my wife Hermione Malfoy. This will, I hope, start a new era in our society where those who unfortunately have been bitten, are not shunned but welcomed as the magical witches and wizards they are." This reporter cannot imagine how important this news will be to those affected by Lycanthropy and applauds Malfoy Ltd. for their initiative. This reporter can only hope that those who would benefit from this potion will utilize this spectacular prospect at changing their lives, but it will remain to be seen if the wizarding population in general will accept those in need of the Wolfsbane Potion._

* * *

_Titbits and tattles by Parvati Patil._

_The stag-do's of the Zabini-Thomas wedding had a very sudden and dramatic end. Both grooms and seven of guests ended up in St. Mungo's after two particularly raucous stag-do's that culminated in a magnificent double party at Malfoy Manor where most of the friends and family of the grooms were invited, including this reporter. Both the grooms and their friends had been drinking heavily during the day and even though the Manor is magically strengthened, no such enchantments have been completed on the many chandeliers in the dining room, which meant that they promptly clattered to the floor when the grooms and two guests, on a dare, attempted to swing from one chandelier to the other where they landed on three guests. Luckily the wizards only suffered minor injuries that were fixed easily by the healers at St. Mungo's but all seven were required to stay the night in order to avoid further injuries to both themselves and the remaining guests. The healers assure the public that they are ready to be bonded in an elaborate yet intimate ceremony this coming Saturday._

* * *

_ZABINI-THOMAS WEDDING THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE SEASON!_

_Article written by special correspondent Rita Skeeter._

_The fall wedding of Mr. Blaise Zabini and Mr. Dean Thomas was attended by all who was so lucky as to receive an invite to the most exclusive event of the season. Only fifty guests were invited to attend the nuptials and the evening was magical. The groomsman to Mr. Zabini was none other than Mr. Draco Malfoy, with Mr. Seamus Finnigan as Mr. Thomas' groomsman. The wows were said in an intimate setting in the floral gardens of the Zabini estate with music from violinists portkeyed in from around the world. Both grooms wore custom-made dress robes by Madam Malkin herself and the entire bonding and following party was coordinated entirely by Parkinson Events. The grooms were escorted down the aisle by their parents and the adorable two-year-old Scorpius Malfoy, who is the spitting image of his aristocratic father, acted as the ring-bearer along with his mother, Mrs. Hermione Malfoy, who was an honorary grooms-maid to both grooms and is currently carrying the next of the Malfoy line._

* * *

_NARGLES EXIST! The proof and what not to do in their vicinity._

_Article written by Rolf and Luna Scamander._

_As has been claimed for years, Nargles have now been proven by the authors of this article. They have been spotted thieving during Christmas celebrations throughout the country and has as recently as yesterday stolen these authors' shoes. As is commonly known, they infest mistletoes, so the wizarding population ought to be especially cautious during the holiday season. If you discover that you have indeed been the victim of a Nargle infestation, Butterbeer corks are the most efficient antidote, so carry them in a string around your neck to avoid further mishaps. Do not attempt at eradicating them without the use of the Butterbeer corks, as any other approach would be wildly inaccurate and could cause the Nargles to breed out of control. The general wizarding public is advised to stay vigilant and alert to this meddlesome hazard._

* * *

_Titbits and tattles by Lavender Brown._

_Once a rich pureblood heiress, Astoria Greengrass has been spotted waiting tables at the Hogs Head in Hogsmeade. At the First Annual Charity Winter Ball five years back, Miss Greengrass made the grave mistake of crossing not only host Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy and event planner Miss Pansy Parkinson, but also Mr. Draco Malfoy and his wife, the Brightest Witch of the Age, Mrs. Hermione Malfoy. Miss Greengrass, it would seem, has been trying to scrape by as she lost most of her personal fortune in the highly publicised Parkinson vs. Greengrass case. Due to Mrs. N. Malfoy's influence, she and her sister, Miss Daphne Greengrass, are no longer welcomed in the polite society that is the magical elite and is currently staying at her sister's modest abode in a dingy part of Diagon Alley. It is well-known that Mrs. H. Malfoy argued fiercely on behalf of Miss Parkinson and won, substantially diminishing Miss Greengrass' fortune. Mr. Antoine Greengrass, father of the Greengrass sisters, has refused to assist his daughters financially in any undertaking until they 'understand fully why they ended up in this situation to begin with', as told to this reporter. Mr. Greengrass and his wife are currently expecting two new additions to the family in July, in the form of twin boys,and the expecting parents couldn't be happier. 'I hope to right many wrongs with these boys'. Miss Greengrass, when approached by this reporter, refused to comment on this article._

* * *

_DO YOU NEED THE PERFECT PARTY? WELL, LOOK NO FURTHER THAN PARKINSON EVENTS! WE ARRANGE PARTIES OF ALL SCALES, FROM A SIMPLE BIRTHDAY WITH YOUR FAMILY TO THE BIGGEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE! For references, please contact Narcissa Malfoy and Blaise Zabini._

* * *

_Titbits and tattles by Parvati Patil._

_Only rare occasions bring the Golden Trio together in public but this reporter spotted the three, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Malfoy, having lunch together in Diagon Alley without their spouses and children. The trio was seen laughing and seemingly was without a care in the world as they had lunch at the terrace of the newest upscale wizarding restaurant, The Horned Bicorn. When approached by this reporter, with regards the reasoning for them to be out without their large family, they assured me that all was well in their families and that they were secretly plotting a coming-of-age birthday present for Teddy Lupin, Mr. Potter's godson, a metamorphmagus currently attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

* * *

_MAGICAL ORPHANAGE TO BE BUILT IN DIAGON ALLEY_

_Article written by special correspondent Rita Skeeter._

_Pansy Parkinson, heiress to the Parkinson fortune, event planner extraordinaire and recipient of the largest court-ordered sum in British wizarding history, has chosen to build an orphanage and refuge for underage witches and wizards who find themselves in dire circumstances, with backing from the Ministry of Magic and the Malfoy family. "This will be a place for all,-" said Miss Parkinson at the press conference yesterday. "-where everyone will be able to feel safe. It will be done in collaboration with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the Ministry of Magic to ensure that all students have a safe place to return to during the holidays. Furthermore, it will be able to house witches and wizards who are not yet attending the Hogwarts school, but who are attacked and belittled for their abilities in the muggle world. This, of course, does not mean that we will remove them from their environments if they do not wish it, but we will be able to give them the opportunity if they are treated unwell for their magic. If we can help just one young witch or wizard, this will be worth it for me." This reporter applauds this necessary initiative from Miss Parkinson and only hope that the larger wizarding population receives this news well._

* * *

_HEIR AND FIRSTBORN TO THE MAGNIFICENT MALFOY FORTUNE, SCORPIUS MALFOY, HAS NEAR DEATH ACCIDENT_

_Article written by correspondent Parvati Patil._

_During a particularly harrowing quidditch match at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Slytherin seeker Scorpius Malfoy ducked, swerved and rolled through the sky to catch the snitch for the Slytherin team, easily outracing his opponent from Gryffindor. His younger sister, Cassandra, who is not unlike her mother Mrs. Hermione Malfoy in appearance and mind, could be seen cheering her brother on in the stands, despite her sorting into Ravenclaw. As the seeker's fist closed around the elusive golden ball, he almost dived head-long into the Gryffindor stands but a well-placed cushioning charm from the clever Miss Malfoy saved his life. The dramatics had little effect on the seeker, who was seen only minutes later celebrating the win with his teammates and his grinning sister perched on his shoulders._

* * *

_Titbits and tattles by Lavender Brown._

_It seems that even in a twenty-year-long marriage, romance is still not lost for the powerful Malfoy couple. Mr. Draco Malfoy and his wife Mrs. Hermione Malfoy, was seen sharing a piece of carrot cake in The Steaming Mug, a coffee shop that has been in Diagon Alley since the end of the Second Wizarding War. The couple was completely engrossed in each other and was seen kissing more than once as they consumed their cake and coffee. This may lead most of our regular readers to remember that this particular coffee shop was where the couple was seen many a time during the very earliest stages of their courtship. When approached by this reporter to reveal the secret to a continuing romantic marriage to our readers, the couple merely smiled at each other and stated that lots of love, communication, acceptance of the other person as a whole, kisses and a great piece of cake could go a long way._


End file.
